DECENCY IMPOSES OBLIGATIONS:

The Republican Accountability PAC -- a group that exists in a network of messengers and activist organizations that sprouted after Donald Trump's victory in 2016 -- is putting up more than 30 billboards on Tuesday as part of its overall $2 million spend in Pennsylvania hitting Republican Doug Mastriano. [...]

One of the PAC's billboards reads, "I'm a conservative. I'm a gun owner. I'm voting Josh Shapiro," and shows a picture of a man named James, of Farmington, Fayette County.

The subject of the billboard, James Carmine, told the Post-Gazette on Monday that he feels betrayed by his party and doesn't believe the GOP represents his values anymore. Pittsburghers might remember Mr. Carmine's name: He was a Republican candidate for mayor in 2001, losing to Tom Murphy.

Mr. Carmine is a self-described neoconservative and a registered Democrat, changing his registration after the rise of Mr. Trump in the GOP. He said the Jan. 6 Capitol riot was unforgivable, and though he is "embarrassed" that he's a registered Democrat after all these years, he sees it as a moral duty.

"A Republican is a person who will put his life on the line for inalienable natural rights," said Mr. Carmine, choking up in tears and apologizing for getting emotional.

Asked how he came to be involved with a national PAC, Mr. Carmine said he sought it out himself -- and that Bill Kristol, a prominent neoconservative and longtime power broker in the conservative think tank space, is one of his idols. Mr. Kristol is chairman of the PAC's board.

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