Pennsylvania Voters To Dem Establishment: Please Let Us Pick Our Senator
A striking number in a new poll that Susquehanna Research and Polling just sent over shows that an overwhelming majority of Pennsylvania Democrats want a Senate primary, despite the best efforts of the White House and the Democratic establishment to clear the field for Arlen Specter:
As you may know, U.S. Senator Arlen Specter recently switched from Republican to Democrat. Should Arlen Specter be the Democratic nominee for the 2010 election for US Senate or should he face a challenge from one or more other Democrats in the primary?
1. Specter should be nominee 28%
2. Specter should face challenge 63%
3. Undecided 32 09%
The question was asked only of Pennsylvania Dems. The number who want right to choose between Specter and one or more other Dems (63%) is more than twice the number who don’t (28%).
Harry Reid will campaign and raise money for Specter against Joe Sestak or any other Dem who challenges him. So will President Obama and Joe Biden. Governor Ed Rendell says Sestak will get “killed” if he dares take on Specter.
Pennsylvania Dems, by contrast, are basically giving the Dem establishment the middle finger. For some reason, they don’t seem persuaded that Specter is the best they can do. Maybe it has something to do with Specter’s record and his admission that he only became a Dem to save his political hide. Or something like that.
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It’s Democracy – it is about “choice”.
Running unopposed is just plain wrong. The “establishment” needs to hurry up and get it – or they’ll blow it, and not be the “establishment” for very long.
thx Bob.
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Question for readers: Would you all prefer the Happy Hour Open thread to be posted earlier, say, around 5 PM? would that make it easier to get a comment thread and discussion going?
Have you seen today’s other poll which shows the administration to be out of step with the American people?
“Americans are overwhelmingly opposed to closing the detention center for suspected terrorists at Guantanamo Bay and moving some of the detainees to prisons on U.S. soil, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds. By more than 2-1, those surveyed say Guantanamo shouldn’t be closed. By more than 3-1, they oppose moving some of the accused terrorists housed there to prisons in their own states . . . Americans were inclined to accept the argument by Cheney and former president George W. Bush that the detention center had made the United States safer. By 40%-18%, they said the prison had strengthened national security rather than weakened it.”
Looks like that vaunted Obama speech contra Cheney didn’t really work.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2009-06-01-gitmo_N.htm
Greg, I know this is an unpopular thought around here, but honestly I really have to question Sestak’s purpose in thumbing his nose at Rendell, Obama and Biden. I know he was a Hillary person, is he harboring a grudge he didn’t get an admin position? Or is he simply feeling it was his time and is openly frustrated that Specter switched? I know I’m searching for a reason here, I just want to get a firm handle on WHY he’s running.
True “Americans” are not opposed to closing Gitmo, only the ones that do not know what being “American” means. When “Americans” are polled on any topic it is a given that the overwhelming majority of their responses are formulated from the sound bites, talking points, and falsehoods they are continuously bombarded with through their favorite MSM outlet.
Maybe Sestak’s onto something. I don’t know squat about him, but I figure you don’t get to be an admiral without being a risk-taker. The fabled Right Stuff. Not an aviator, (a guided missile/surface warfare guy, re: Wikipedia), still he’s pushing the envelope. Born in ‘51, doesn’t want to wait for Arlen to kick, House is maybe too small for his ego and ambitions. I’m sure he’ll find something to do if he loses. And besides, Obama didn’t wait his “turn”.
Greg, like Chris, I am unsure. Why is Adm Sestak so “pushy”. He has a great resume, comes across as articulate, serious and charming. But why go head to head with Ed Rendell at this time. Do we really need a primary fight in 2010? I am surprised by the Dem establishment being so loud about their support for Specter. Perhaps they don’t want to use up resources in a fight in Penn. I come to my point: why fight (as in LieberConnecticut) and lose. Sestak can do a helluva lot in the House, and some of those old bulls need nudging. Is he already losing interest in being a member of the House, which has its own elites.
P.S. Greg, start Happy House whenever you like. You’re usually posting pretty early, I think you can wrap it up early, too.
It seems to me there are two or three things operating here: 1) I believe that the 2008 presidential campaign gave Democratic voters an idea of what can be achieved when the electorate puts its mind to it, a taste of what democracy in action can accomplish and how good it feels to be part of it. 2) I think a lot of voters remember the lieberman election and know what it meant in 2008. 3) I and I suspect a lot of Democrats believe Specter might be cooperative until he is elected, but will revert to his roots once he is safe for another 6 years. We have aready seen that self interest motivates him, not the welfare of his country and certainly not the welfare of the Democratic Party.
Greg
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I would say probably 5 or 5:30 for the Happy Hour Thread. I notice there wasn’t a lot of comments yesterday and I know on my part it was because I ended up getting busy and then not coming back to the thread until later on in the evening.
As a Pennsylvania Dem, I am relieved Sestak is planning to challenge Specter and was very impressed with his appearance on Hardball last night. He drew the contrasts between he and Arlen pretty starkly. I would much rather have a more progressive and reliable Dem in that seat. Plus, because Specter will not have the ability to run as an independent like Lieberman did in CT, and because there is a lot of time between the primary and the general, the chances of the Dems losing this seat are not that great. Whichever candidate wins the primary will likely beat Toomey. Finally, I always think its a good thing to show these old-timers like Specter and Lieberman that they are not entitled to their seats; they need to earn them.
Thanks for covering this, Greg.
I live in PA and we can do better than Specter. He’s not that popular and he’s not a Democrat. Rendell and the rest of the DLC don’t know how to win elections in this century. Sestak was behind in his race initial. So was Obama (remember the Hillary cake walk). It’s all about the netroots and grassroots. And they don’t want an opportunist Dino, er I mean republican has been.
ok guys, thanks. I will aim for earlier from now on for Happy Hour…
Why should an increasingly blue state have to put up with two republicans on the ballot for Senate? It’s unacceptable.
As for Ed Rendell’s statement that Sestak will get “killed,” I choose to think he’s just keeping his end of the bargain with Arlen. That, and they’re old friends. And while Obama may continue to “support” Arlen, I don’t expect him to go out of his way to help if Arlen’s votes don’t get better real quick.
Real dems will support Sestak financially. Who will $upport Specter?
Good god Gregg, do you think we have amnesia. When Specter flipped and became what you thought was a surefire shill for the left, you were cheerleading the move, despite the meddling by DC Dems in PA party politics. Now, all the sudden, you’re in favor of a primary. Damn man, any way the FAR LEFT WIND BLOWS…
Sad.
If Spector is so dumb and out of touch with his constituents that he insults a portion of them when he started an address to a chamber of commerce with Polish jokes, then perhaps it’s time the voters elect someone who is more current with what’s going on in the 21st Century. They don’t need a Will Ferrell-wannabe representing them in Washington, D.C.
spector is a great example of what is wrong with this country today,he is what he is,a traitor to whichever party he is with,and a duck cant get rid of webbed feet,so why does this spendthrift fool keep getting re elected? look at california,the shape they are in. they deserve to be bankrupt,they keep sending **** and trade waxman back every election,and things stedily get worse. same with dodd,ried,franks,collins,and too many others to mention. get rid of the people who are insulting your intelligence,,and maybe things will get better,or else keep sending these thieves back,and you can have more to worry about.
I’m from Sestak’s district and voted for him, and I can’t see how 5 unremarkable months in the House entitles one to the Senate.
I’m from PA too (not Shestak’s district), and I think that, though Shestak may not be the best candidate, we definitely need someone besides Arlen, particularly if he doesn’t switch to supporting labor. It’s time for him to retire, quite frankly, and like a lot of other Senators, he doesn’t realize that. He evidently plans to hang in there until he drops in his tracks.
A lot of PA Democrats don’t like him, but on the other hand many of them have always supported him just because of his seniority — “we get so much by having a Senator with that seniority.” If it weren’t for that, he’d have been retired by the voters some time ago.
I’m very much afraid that, with Obama showing his unwillingness to fight for anything really progressive the way he has since his inauguration, he will cave on the EFCA and will continue to support Specter even if Specter doesn’t support the EFCA either. Then, enough Democratic pols and voters will fall in behind him to hand Specter the nomination. If so, he’ll probably defeat the GOP candidate, and we’ll have another right-wing Democratic Senator to go with our President, who isn’t exactly right-wing, but can’t be trusted to do what’s right, either. Beautiful.
There was a lot of hand wringing from the liberal Left Dems when pro-life Casey got “anointed”, and then he totally creamed his primary opponents and then Santorum.
Sestak keeps going on cable news every few days to “announce” that he intends to run if he gets permission from his eight year old daughter. The media keep putting him on TV (free advertising to criticize Specter, without equal time) and ZERO news value. Either announce or get off the screen!! On Hardball, Sestak indicated it could be several more weeks of talking with his family. This is all BS, because the REAL decider is the June 30th FEC filing milestone and how much Sestak has in the bank.
The polls encouraging a primary leave out critical questions:
1) How much money do you think Specter and Sestak would spend in a primary fighting each other, instead of Toomey? (hint: upwards of $10 million)
2) Are you aware of recently opened GOP senate seats where Democrats have a chance of winning in 2010? (hint: there are about a half dozen good candidates we could flip)
3) Do you think that Dems are better off spending their money to flip those GOP seats or in a Specter/Sestak primary?
(hint: getting senate to 63 Dems is better than worrying about if Specter or Sestak will be #60).
The Dems favoring a primary haven’t really been “thinking way ahead” about the entire 2010 Senate campaign. If they had even an inkling that a PA primary would drain resources from other Senate races, the outcome of these polls would be very different.
Is Specter REALLY so bad that it’s worth tens of millions of dollars to pit him against a non-liberal blue-dog Democrat like Sestak and risk losing new Senate seats we could take from the GOP?
Rendell backed Hillary all the way during the primary. That’s what this is about – him making good with Obama now.
A primary fight is bad? How about – Specter could just retire and save his new party a costly & expensive campaign. Arlen loses if Sestak runs.