Reply #128: What he really needed, he didn't get

[zipplewrath]

He needed a primary with no challengers. He didn't get it. If there is something interesting here it is why. The DSCC and the DNC have been able to stop people before. Rahm knew how to do it when he lead the DCCC. It may be because Sestak already had support from his congressional days. It may be because Specter already had opposition from 40 years of being a GOP kinda guy. However, it may also be that the White House was only willing to go "so far" it trying to stop it. We may not know for years what went on, if at all. The unions have lined up behind Specter, but on the local level they are quietly backing Sestak.

There have been assertions that Sestak doesn't have the "ground game" to get out the vote on Tuesday. That may be true since the "formal" support from the unions may go to Specter. But if Specter loses, it may be a story about how the national party is losing its ability to dictate at the local level, even with White House backing. Or it may be a story of how UNwilling Obama is to play "hardball" in his own party, even with the "left".