Joe Sestak on Specter: I'm Not Sure He's a Democrat Yet
By Heather Sunday May 03, 2009 6:26pm
From State of the Union with John King. Joe Sestak on his disappointment with the Democratic establishment for backing Specter. I hope he bucks them and gets in the primary race. Specter is never going to be a Democrat. He just became our newest DINO.
KING: So I want to put up a screen because I want you to address your answer to the president and those Democrats who say Arlen Specter is their guy, but also to Democratic primary voters in the state of Pennsylvania.
Do you think the person they want as their next United States senator for six more years is someone who, as Senator Specter did, voted yes on the bush tax cuts; yes to authorize force in Iraq; yes to confirm Chief Justice Roberts; yes to confirm Justice Alito; and just this past week voted no on President Obama's budget -- is that the kind of person you want to sell to the Democratic primary electorate in Pennsylvania?
SESTAK: No -- and the person who's sitting, as you and I speak, in Landmark (ph) Diner, in Upper Darby, Delaware County of my district, I think, would say the same thing.
Too many jobs have been lost for us to worry about somebody else's job who has switched parties. I don't know for sure it's about political survivability, but I know this. It's not about trying to maintain a legacy or somebody's job.
KING: Is he a good enough Democrat?
SESTAK: I'm not sure he's a Democrat yet. And that doesn't mean we don't want bipartisanship. My gosh, I won in a district that was 53 percent Republican, 36 percent Democrat. What I need to know is, what's the principles you're running for...
John Amato:
Joe Sestak was on with Blue America earlier today answering questions about Specter.
Full transcript below the fold.
KING: We appreciate your coming in, sir. The last time we had you here was to talk about the challenges in Iraq. This time we want to talk about your home state. Arlen Specter, a Republican senator, is now a Democratic senator. He switched parties.
He now wants to run for re-election as a Democrat. You are considering making that same race. I want to ask you on this day whether you will continue and possibly challenge Arlen Specter. And as you answer, I want you first to listen to Senator Specter this morning on CBS talking about he's more comfortable now as a Democrat.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "FACE THE NATION")
SPECTER: I was sorry to disappoint many people and, frankly, I was disappointed that the Republican Party didn't want me as their candidate. But as a matter of principle, I'm becoming much more comfortable with the Democrats' approach.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: More comfortable as a matter of principle. Is this a principled decision or is this a political survival decision?
SESTAK: I don't know yet. I'm disappointed. First, I'm kind of disappointed in the Democratic political establishment in Washington, D.C. I think this last presidential election and certainly when I was swept in two years ago was about not reestablishing the establishment.
So I don't know what the deal is yet, but I do know this. We are very independent in the Keystone State. We want to make up our own mind of who should be running.
Second, with regard to whether he feels more comfortable, I think Arlen has to tell us not that it was too hard to run against someone and that he has actually left behind many good moderate Republicans in that fight to shape the Republican Party.
What I need to know is, what is he running for? And second, how will he use his leadership, which didn't seem to work in the Republican Party, to better shape us? If he has the right answer, so be it. We move on.
But I hate to tell you, we're in a very critical moment, John. Health care for everyone in an affordable, accessible way. Overseas, we are in a real challenge with Pakistan and Afghanistan as we redeploy from Iraq. Where is he on that?
Energy, education, is Pennsylvania -- it is such an elder state, how do we retain the youth there so we can be all we can be? That's what I have to hear. What are you running for? And that's what I got in for after I left the military three years ago.
KING: And as you -- listen, you mention you left the military, you're Admiral Sestak as well as Congressman Sestak, the highest- ranking former military official in the Congress.
You mentioned the establishment. President Obama ran promising to change the way Washington does business. He has now said Arlen Specter is my guy, I will raise money for him.
Senator Reid, the Democratic leader in the Senate, has said Arlen Specter is my guy, I will raise money for him. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which generally stays out of primaries, has said, Arlen Specter is our guy, we will raise money for him. Your governor, Ed Rendell, is a Democrat who says Arlen Specter is my guy, I will raise money for him.
Is that wrong? Is that politics as usual or is that President Obama's new way of doing things?
SESTAK: Here is what I know, I have respect for all of those men. However, I have to go back it my military experience of several decades. In it we always told the story of George Washington with the very small medal he gave, a small piece of purple ribbon, which later became the Purple Heart, was directed to be given only to an enlisted man, not an officer.
Because he wanted to demonstrate that the way to the top in this new American military, as our society, was open to anyone equally. There were no kings and there were no kingmakers.
So, my take is, I'll listen. I respect that. But when I got out of the military and wanted to get out of politics, someone said, you have got to tell the DCCC. I didn't know what DCCC was. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, I called them and they said, Joe, we don't want you in it, we've got somebody. They called me back the next day, said, we don't want you in it. I said, I wasn't calling to ask, I was calling to inform, in a very polite way, and I respect you. So that's my issue, is, the president has said he respects Arlen's independence and to disagree.
He'll respect mine if that is the case, I know that.
KING: We're short on time.
KING: So I want to put up a screen because I want you to address your answer to the president and those Democrats who say Arlen Specter is their guy, but also to Democratic primary voters in the state of Pennsylvania.
Do you think the person they want as their next United States senator for six more years is someone who, as Senator Specter did, voted yes on the bush tax cuts; yes to authorize force in Iraq; yes to confirm Chief Justice Roberts; yes to confirm Justice Alito; and just this past week voted no on President Obama's budget -- is that the kind of person you want to sell to the Democratic primary electorate in Pennsylvania?
SESTAK: No -- and the person who's sitting, as you and I speak, in Landmark (ph) Diner, in Upper Darby, Delaware County of my district, I think, would say the same thing.
Too many jobs have been lost for us to worry about somebody else's job who has switched parties. I don't know for sure it's about political survivability, but I know this. It's not about trying to maintain a legacy or somebody's job.
KING: Is he a good enough Democrat?
SESTAK: I'm not sure he's a Democrat yet. And that doesn't mean we don't want bipartisanship. My gosh, I won in a district that was 53 percent Republican, 36 percent Democrat. What I need to know is, what's the principles you're running for...
(CROSSTALK)
SESTAK: This is about ideals.
KING: We're about out of time, sir. So when do you need to know that before you make your decision, in or out?
SESTAK: In the next few months. Look, I learned something. We're respected for the power of our military and the power of our economy around the world, but we're admired for the power of our ideals. This is about what's right, not politics as usual.
Congressman Joe Sestak, thanks for being back for the last word.
SESTAK: Thanks for having me.
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spectre is NOT a democrat.
I KNEW his crossing over from the dark side was a bad idea!
this whole thing smells rovian to me...
Specters job is to throw a monkey wrench into the works and fuck up every decent piece of legislation that makes it to the house and senate.
My tinfoil hat says so, so it must be true.
If Arlen specter is given seniority and chairmanships on committees, he has potential to create quite a bit of havoc. I would like to see how he performs unbound by loyalty to the Republican Party and their point of view.
I would hate to see the progress on turning the country around after all these years of Republican control stifled because a chairmanship is given to someone who has changed his label but (pardoning the oxymoron) has the sole of a Republican.
America doesn't need any enemies!
They'll both hit the floor at the same time. I don't think Obama gets to vote in the PA primary. So, I hope Specter loses the primary to an actual Democrat.
his authorship of the famous "Magic Bullet" theory, used by the Warren Commission to help cover up JFK's assassination. Interesting that depraved ol' Arlen's back in the news just as Russ Baker's new book, Family of Secrets, which is about the Bush Family and their ties to so many of our nation's disasters of the past 75 years (including JFK's assassination), is getting popular.
Maybe next time our new Dem is on Press the Meat, someone will ask him about that theory of his.
Ya.
Arlen, now that he is a "Democrat", will probably be on the magic waterboard theory, you know, that "independent" investigation where they find out that the table was haunted and there was no person responsible for the actual deed.
The table just grabbed guys and started doing it all by itself. /s
party members sure give the illusion of democracy a black eye. If both these parties keep up the way they are going, there will be a viable third party created that will kick both their asses to the curb.
i sure hope so canuck! , since a real liberal now has no party we need to create one !
There is no way to have a third party in the system we have now without proportional representation.
If we can't change the party from within, by popular demand, a third party is a sure fire way to make sure that the Pukes are in control once again.
I know that's what the Pukes want us to do, that's why they hire Nader to run every 4 years to dilute the Dem vote.
Between Ralph, voter caging, voter roll purging and stricter ID laws, they can knock off about 10% of the Dem vote. They teach that to all the serious up and comers.
http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2005/...
He's a Liebercrat!
Ok, first of all who cares really how he votes? I mean if he's gonna vote repub anyway, then hey, may as well do it as dem if only for the demoralization value to the repubs.
But! There is the matter of his re-election coming. An election where he could be depriving a real democrat a seat.
So! Since winning his elections is the only thing that matters to Specter, a grass roots effort to support a dem primary candidate to run against him is needed. This will put a real dem in that seat AND still deprive the repubs that seat.
Most telling was his comment that he wasn't going to let his 29 year career come to an end just because PA republican voters don't like him anymore. Hey, asswipe, maybe no one told you, but that's how a representational democracy works.
Those filthy little people and their right to vote, can sure screw with an egomaniacs sense of entitlement.
Whats a plutocrat to do?
He's a spoiler vote for the Republicans, so now he can be a spoiler vote for the Dems.
specter is just trying to save his career. I would not consider his membership in the democratic party to mean anything. he will vote the way he always had, so to call it 60 dems in the senate is foolish.
He changed hats. The only good part is it made the GOP look really bad, again.
I don't trust any centrist Conservative - Demo/Repub/Indie - as far as I can throw them. ( Nelson (NE), Snow (ME), Lieberman (CT), an now Spector (PA) )
They play the middle fast and loose for nobody's benefit but for their own careers.
***** I call myself a Progressive - which means, that with history as my guide, I don't fully trust Democratics and I absolutely detest Republicans. *****
Specter will NEVER be a democrat.
I'd never vote for him. I hope the people of Pennsylvania are too smart for his self-serving political machinations.
*
If this guy primaries Specter, he will kick his ass - and Obama and the dems will look like dofuses for supporting Sphincter.
Specter is simply Mr. Right now. He's has no leverage. Rep. Sestak simply can't help until 2010. This is a show and tell move by Obama.
If I lived in Pennsylvania, I wouldn't vote for this traitor even if he went straight Democratic on all of his votes. In 2010 kick Specter's ass to the curb no matter what as a message to the Republican party and to progressives. Arrogant, totally untrustworthy old bastard treats a life raft like it's a bully pulpit
Spector will lose in a dem primary if he votes a majority of the time with republicans. Big votes are coming up and we will be keeping score, Senator. There are way too many Blue Dogs in congress today.
spectre is a phuKKKing opportunist.
I respect the wisdom that sometimes comes with age. Benjamin Franklin was in his late 70’s during our Revolution. His intelligence and knowledge was instrumental in the formation of American ideals (he was also a pretty cool ole’coot.)
I also respect what Arlen Specter accomplished with his life - a fine service to our country. But Specter is no Franklin. His time has passed. Being a politician for the sake of getting reelected is pathetic, and Arlen is too old to be jumping through these hoops toward that endeavor.
Thanks Arlen for your years of service. It’s time to go.
I knew C & L would catch this clip. Thanks to Sestak for having the courage to call out his own party for giving a full endorsement to Specter and his worthless promises. More please!
That's probably the Llanerch Diner Sestak is referring to. I used to hang out there at night when I was a teenager over 40 years ago. Glads it's still there, though I imagine it's had a few facelifts in the intervening decades.
As for Specter, he's never there when you really need him. Her's worse than a BlueDog even, an active negative 'inside 5the tent.
Better to have a Repub nutcase like Twomey win and makea fool of himself than to support an ambitious hypocrite like Specter. IMHO!
is not what we need now or in the near future.
In this instance I disagree. Specter will have far more capacity to adversely influence positive Democratic initiatives from within the party that he would as just another GOP obstructionist and glory hound braying from the other side. This is doubly true if, as expected, party leadership grants him seniority status and an important committee chairmanship.
The idea of a 60 seat Senate majority is an appealing one, but in reality, as long as we have wankers like Ben Nelson, Mary Landrieu, Mark Pryor, and a few others, the filibuster-proof majority is little more than a chimera.
No doubt. The 60 seat majority is a Pyrrhic Victory when the likes of these members are taken into account, and Specter's self-serving switch means little.
Dems don't vote lock-step (nor should they). This number will not prevent Repub obstructionism.
Wonder if Specter knows it's the Llanerch Diner? Probably, since he's a Philly guy. I bet his staff is already booking an event there, if only to stick it in Sestak's face.
at least according to Nate Silver at fivethirtyeight.com. Sure wish an actual progressive would step up to the plate!
hear.
Specter switched parties because he was SOL as a Republican , not because of any principles unless " my own career and re election comes before all else " is a principle , he's another Lieberman is what he is . The Dems should have left Specter out in no man's land and found a competitive Dem to put up against the Repug primary winner .
What Exactly Makes Specter a Democrat?
He wont vote yes on the union vote, health care etc., what principles of the democratic party has he upheld?
Doesn't his seniority pose a threat to other dems? I recall reading that if he is a dem that he can take committee leadership positions away from more junior dems. Couldn't he be used by the GOP in this way?
As an independent progressive its ppl like spector that give any party a bad name well he doesnt have to help the rethugs in that regard...ppl like spector are in it for the greed of power and money..like the blue dogs I also wouldnt vote rethugs if u injected draino in my eye or cut me with razor blades and rubed salt on me or cut off my rite hand so I would have to give up sex...just jokein almost i got married for that no diff for the blue dogs there more scared off loseing there big corprate contributions to there campainge war chest than the guy that can only afford $5 $10 $20 to donate..this has got to change on the right BUT IT HAS TO ON THE LEFT
Support Sestak...if he doesn't win the primary...then vote for Specter, because he'll be 100 times better than the Neanderthal Toomey....
Same Specter. New dime.
How's that a change for the better?
Speaking truth to power. Ahhhh how refreshing!
Sen. Specter, Pennsylvanians are much smarter than you seem to believe. Your party lost here repeatedly and the fact that you have changed from R to D does little to sway the votes of many dems and indies I know. After all we will be voting on your history and not your ficticious new future. We have had enough of your paper tiger routine, you know, where you talk tough initially and then vote against your tough talk later. A recent example..."there will be no amunity given to those who spied on Americans" . Cafferty says it best...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYnhtxzu9Ds
He's an opportunist, nothing more.
Harry Reid and Barack Obama can pretend that Democrats will somehow benefit from having Specter publicly identify himself as a Democrat, but doing so simply reveals either how stupid they are or how little being a Democrat means today.
Move over 14 senate bluedogs now bouncing Specter on their knee to ensure Americans will continue to get jack shit. Like the Mortgage relief they just voted down. Get used to the numbers 45 for 15 against.
You can't help but love how they're all sneaking around the healthcare issue as well and that includes obama.
Obama said he was "thrilled" that Specter became a democratic party member.
He was even more excited than when he told O'Reilly that the surge had succeeded beyond his wildest dreams.
Chris Matthews has a tingle in his leg over Obama.
I imagine that he has a super-duper tingle now that Obama is a thrilled Obama.
Thanks to the democratic party leadership, we now have a shriveled up reactionary cretin voting against our interests as a democrat. These people could have backed a progressive or liberal democrat to oppose a fading Specter - but no. They backed Specter instead and will campaign for him.
Nuts to the dems.
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