gee, If Sestak wins, that means Rendell can’t be Senator. But that has nothing to do with Rendell speaking out.

Hi Elliott, I was going to say “gee…” too! :]

Gee, isn’t it nice to let voters vote? that’s democracy!

It would be great to see Sestak run and win just to shut up that blowhard Rendell.

Rumors posted to the Star Tribune website suggest that Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty will this afternoon announce that he will NOT be running for re-election.

The reason for this is obvious: freed from concerns about re-election, Pawlenty will be able to resist signing the Minnesota Senate election certificate for as long as he remains governor. That could mean that Franken could remain un-seated until January of 2011.

I’m not aware of any primary in which the blue dogs and Obama are this vulnerable.

President Obama enjoys a 91% approval rating among Pennsylvania Democrats, and he has pledged to campaign for Specter

Obama ought to stay the fuck out of the Dem primary and pledge to work for the Dem nominee.

Off to protest vote against Corzine. He’s going to win today, and most likely lose the race in Nov.

is it more than likely some amended version of EFCA will be brought to the floor for a vote. i guess not necessarily. seeing as how (as jane noted yesterday) the unions haven’t done shit to counter the secret ballot lovers there’s little reason to think they’ll of anything anytime. on the flip side, efca opponents have every reason to go full out to kill it entiely as they’ve been damn successful so far.

my take is the unions will not support Sestak if Obama and Rendell are supporting Spectre. he’s got a tough road.

Sestak is for telecomm immunity, supports using state secrets as a ploy and is against gay marriage? We want another rich, white DINO to replace Specter? Sorry, doesn’t sound like such a great deal to me.

i miss me my NJ politics. If Christie wins we’re probably going to hear “The GOP is Back From The Dead!!!!!!! With A New Rising Young Star!!!!!! The GOP Is The Future!!!!!!” Jeez.

That would be a great thing. Unfortunately, we might have the HoJo/Connecticut analog in front of us again, except with a sitting president interfering.

I’m not exactly comfortable with Sestak being just to the left of the blue dogs, but if he could just think and act a bit outside the box politically he might turn into a good guy. The telecom vote was not a good sign… but everyone makes a mistake, right?

I don’t see any flaw in that analysis.

Ed Rendell needs to shut his pie hole.

http://progressnotcongress.org/blog/?p=1508

President Obama enjoys a 91% approval rating among Pennsylvania Democrats, and he has pledged to campaign for Specter. How far he’s willing to extend himself on Specter’s behalf will no doubt be a function of how well Specter supports his agenda.

I’m not so sure about that. I’d guess Specter can pretty much do whatever he wants. He’s a ‘D’ now, but that’s a pretty diluted brand, between Blue Dogs, corporatism, etc.

All excellent points, but age is also a huge factor.

Sestak is thirty years younger. Spector, if elected, will imho be much, much more conservative in his last six years. I think we’ll have a lot more leverage over a Sen. Sestak, because he’ll want to get re-elected.

A liberal/progressive isn’t going to get elected Senator in Pennsylvania.

As a liberal/progressive, I don’t want to pass up a chance to support the unions. I just think we’re really marginal, without their muscle.

Sestak has a has a 93% Lifetime Progressive Score on his voting record on ProgressivePunch.com Specter only has a score of 37%. In 2009 Sestack had a Progressive Score of 91% on his voting record, and Specter had a score of 45%.

Spectre is faithless. He will lose interest in the Democratic party the moment he’s re-elected. Sestak, if supported by unions, the netroots, and grassroots Democrats who don’t want the bosses dictating our choice, might be a better Democrat. Or he might not. With Spectre, it’s a sure thing: he sucks. With Sestak, he might improve.

This needs to be broadcast and rebroadcast ad nauseum.

He (Arlen Specter) kept trying to get me (Jean Hill) to change my story, particularly regarding the number of shots. He said I had been told how many shots there were and I figured he was talking about what the Secret Service told me right after the assassination. His inflection and attitude was that I knew what I was supposed to be saying, why wouldn’t I just say it. I asked him, ‘Look, do you want the truth or just what you want me to say?’ He said he wanted the truth, so I said, ‘The truth is that I heard between four and six shots.’

I told him, ‘I’m not going to lie for you.’ So he starts talking off the record. He told me about my life, my family, and even mentioned that my marriage was in trouble. I said, ‘What’s the point of interviewing me if you already know everything about me?’ He got angrier and finally told me, ‘Look, we can even make you look as crazy as Marguerite Oswald [Lee Oswald’s mother] and everybody knows how crazy she is. We could have you put in a mental institution if you don’t cooperate with us.’ I knew he was trying to intimidate me… (as told to researcher Jim Marrs)

Did anyone else notice the clue in last Sunday’s NYTimes crossword (I think it was Sunday), Clue: Specter, D. PA. (Answer: Arlen)

D. PA. Hahaha

Specter may be 79 but he’s spry. I am sure that although he is already 14 years beyond Social Security retirement age he will still be able to provide well into his eighties the dynamic leadership that the people of Pennsylvania expect and will need in these very troubled times.

One thing that drives me nuts about our system is the choice of the lesser of two evils every goddamned election. There’s not one progressive city councilperson, county commissioner or state legislator in PA willing to take a stand? Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Perhaps that person wouldn’t win in 2010 but with the non-stop election cycle we have now 2012 isn’t far away.

Blue Texan has his regularly scheduled 10:30 post available upstairs: “Right-Wing Bloggers Relieved to Find Shooting They Can Politicize”

If I were him I’d try to avoid the primary challenge by joining the CFL party with Joe, and he should joined by the Maine twins, Nelson, probably a few others. Just think, with the current senatorial mathematics they’d be able to play the same role as a small tie-breaker party in a parliamentary government… They’d be the center of attention, brokering deals, holding legislation hostage, etc. Well, at least until the next election when they all get thrown out of office.

do not question the Axiom of Automatic Support for the Least Worst!

down that road lies peril – you could begin to question the need to support Democrats, no matter what!

And old Arlen Specter is a Democrat now, and if he wins the primary, you know what to do, indeed, There is No Choice.

Your Progressive President will campaign for Specter in the primary, that means he must be a Progressive now, too! I’m sure you’ll find reasons to convince yourselves to vote for him if you live in Pennsylvania.

After all, without a 60 vote supermajority, the Democrats are feeble and helpless against a minority party that acts like an opposition party.

I wonder why it didn’t work the same way when the (D)’s were in the minority – they just caved on everything. Oh well, More and Better Democrats, and better that Arlen Specter and Joe Lieberman is a good place to start! For that matter, anyone better than Saddam Hussein who has a (D) after his name will do.

Specter sucks and has always sucked and I can’t wait for the chance to vote against the front running SOB in the primary, I dont care who it is. Sestak isn’t great but his vote for telecom immunity should be irrelivant as we all voted for Obama. I wish I could raise the money to run a state wide election but I am just a poor motorcycle salesman. I can’t even raise enough money to run against Dr. Tom Murphy in PA 18 with his pharmco money.

I see no inconsistency between supporting Obama and opposing Specter- even if Obama supports Specter. I suspect many in PA would agree. They know Specter and know he’s slippery- to say the least.

i’m actually working on a similar piece (waiting for my edits right now). But jane, let’s not throw all of this on Ed Rendell’s head (although he bears a lot of responsibility).

The head of the PA Democrats, TJ Rooney, has specifically said the goal of his party is to avoid a primary.

I’m not thrilled with sestak’s vote for FISA either, and fot that reason alone, i will neither volunteer for him nor give him money. However, on EFCA he’s good, on health care he’s OK and getting better, and on DADT he’s been a consistent voice for repeal. Also, acording to a laker i spoke to last night, he listens and he’s educable.

but mostly, i support sestak because he’s a big middle finger in TJ “democray? what’s that?” Rooney’s nose.