We had better get a good candidate here in PA to fight Toomey who will probably

[AlinPA]

follow the same game plan as Brown in MA. IMO, Specter is worn out and we need a new face to take on Toomey.

[MH1]

1. Joe Sestak.

But also because the next PA governor will almost certainly be a republican, and Specter isn't exactly in the best of health. And thirdly, because if the GOP comes up strong in 2010 ol' turncoat Arlen might just decide to jump back over the fence again.

Please follow the links in my sig to more about Sestak. I've known him since his first campaign in 2006, and he's the real deal.

[AlinPA]

3. While Specter leads in polls now over Sestak, I fear that we will get the same situation as MA.

If Specter wins the primary but because of Independents going with the teabaggers we end up in a tight race with Specter losing to Toomey because of the same dynmamic as MA. IMO, Sestak is the new blood we need to really take advantage of the registered Democratic voters in PA. I think it more than just small talk that a lot of Democrats consider Specter to be a republican and that he switched only because he would have lost to Toomey in the primary.

[MH1]

4. I agree with you.

I think Sestak needs to step up his campaign a bit but I see signs that's happening. There are a lot of Dems who really don't like Specter that much - we've been told for years how bad he is, and given all the talking points to canvas against him ... it's really hard to forget all that stuff just cuz Fast Eddie tells us to.

I saw an article where Sestak recently hired a top notch campaign firm. I've been in the local office and it's packed with volunteers and - gasp - it seems organized! The first campaign, in 2006, the campaign office always looked like a disaster. But Sestak won handily anyway, and 2008 was a cakewalk because he's so well liked here in PA-7.

So anyway I think Sestak has been going about building his campaign slowly, reaching out to real people with the "kitchen talks" he's been having all over the state, but is about to put it in high gear and I think Specter's going to wake up one day soon and realize he's done. :)

[AlinPA]

6. I think that Sestak will provide an energy that Specter can't muster and that can carry

over to the general election. The primary is where Sestak can gain the attention of Independents whereas Toomey will be in a ho-hum primary with Peg Luksik, arguing about who is holier.

[Township75]

2. Unfortunately, the PA mindset is top-down thinking...

meaning most party voters vote for who the party leaders tell them to. That is the only reason Hillary won in the PA Dem primaries in 08 while Obama was racking up victories in state after state where there is more independent thought.

Arlen will likely get the nod since the white house and current governor are behind him, which really sucks.

[MH1]

5. Sadly there's some truth to what you say, BUT

Sestak is different. He ran a different kind of campaign in 2006 - and you will see a couple gripers here who are trying to use it against him - but he won over a several term incumbent, and has built a solid following in his district.

I do think it's an uphill climb for Sestak but if anyone can do it, he can. He has incredible determination and stamina. Arlen might be in for a surprise.

[PADEMJES12]

7. sestak isnt a team player...

besides hes losing by three touchdowns now even according to Rasmussen.

[MH1]

8. Sestak does his job

and he does it well.

"Not a team player" is just a bullshit smear. I have seen Sestak at events for several other Dems.

[Number9Dream]

9. Toomey is beatable > Wall Street banker

Toomey is very beatable if the Democratic nominee hammers on the fact that Toomey was a Wall Street banker. These Wall Street guys are now barely a notch above child molesters in the eye of the public. Begin every campaign ad about Toomey with, "Wall Street banker, Pat Toomey...".

Toomey's Wall Street bio:

http://www.derivativesstrategy.com/magazine/archive/1999/0599playf753.asp?print

Joe Sestak has voted with a majority of his Democratic colleagues 97.2% of the time during the current Congress.

http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/members/s001169/

Only PA Congressman to have 100 % rating from the League of Conservation Voters, PennEnvironment, and has been endorsed by the Sierra Club.

http://joesestak.com

Sestak, who had served as a three-star Admiral and who spent thirty-one years in the Navy is one of seventeen veterans in Congress who are co-sponsors of legislation to lift the ban on openly gay service.

http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS144555+05-May-2008+PRN20080505

Sestak supports Healthcare Coverage for all Americans:
"While affordable and accessible preventive care is so essential to reducing the overall costs of healthcare, we must also provide healthcare to all Americans through a system that is cost effective for families, businesses and providers."

http://joesestak.com/issues/health-security

[PADEMJES12]

10. Joe was a no show... for Coakley and healthcare... an inconvenient truth

Labeling inconvenient truths as smears is unsubstantiated unless you can disprove them. You cannot disprove this because Joe send no emails or urged to help. As with proving neligence, Joe's inaction by not being a team player constituted an omission to act, when those counting on healthcare needed him. That is a FACT. So much for him caring about principle, as opposed to getting a promotion.

[MH1]

11. More bullshit. Coakley was the no-show.

I appreciate that Joe Sestak was busy doing his job, serving his constituents.

[PADEMJES12]

12. Joe sat on the side lines when other big guns showed up to the fight.

He's simply not a commander for the front line in Washington... not very senatorial of him.
Its more apparent that he isnt a team player.

[MH1]

14. Glad to know you see Joe Sestak as a "big gun".

That he is. He was doing his job when the MA Senate candidate was NOT doing her job, the DSCC was not doing its job, the DNC was not doing its job, and so forth. Coakley squandered a 31-point lead. But it's not all her fault - the party insiders should have been advising her and keeping an eye on the numbers - all along, not just the last "oh shit" weekend where they finally woke up. That was THEIR job. Sestak has his own campaign and a congressional office to run.

Sestak is a big gun in his own way, but he is most certainly NOT an insider, especially now that the party has thrown him under the bus to embrace republican-pretending-to-be-a-dem-so-he-can-be-reelected Specter. So you can whine all you want, but there is no sane person who thinks an effort from Sestak (who is unknown in the Bay State), in the last few days before the election, would have erased the several point lead that Brown won by.

[JPZenger]

13. Toomey's Background

Yes, Toomey worked on Wall Street around the early 1990s. He then co-owned a sports bar/restaurant, and went right from there to Congress, once the Democratic incumbent decided not to run for re-election. Toomey was very good at pretending to be a moderate during his time in Congress representing a swing district. Few people in his district bothered to look too closely at his voting record, and he had some weak Democratic opponents. While in Congress, I don't remember him ever calling himself a conservative.