Specter's problem is that he thinks it's all about HIM when it's all about US

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

He's just a wayward vote that may go this way and may go that way. His response about healthcare on MTP was particularly pointless and devoid of any reassurance for the millions without coverage.

If he becomes the DINOiest among DINOS, or Lieberman II, he brings no value to the table as far as I am concerned. Since he says no promise was made concerning the primaries, I have to say - let the best Dem win at that time. I think Sestak would eat him for lunch in a debate.

[Canuckistanian]

1. It looks more and more like Specter's a White Elephant

His feeding and upkeep will be more than it's worth.

[AllentownJake]

2. Sestak would eat him for lunch in a debate

and than the street money, democratic voters who have been voting for Arlen for years when he was in the GOP, and Ed Rendell's folks would eat Sestak for lunch at the polling place.

[RamboLiberal]

3. I just emailed Sestak encouraging him to run

No way will I support Specter with money in the race. I would contribute to someone like Sestak to take Arlen on. I'm glad Arlen switched but he's still going to be our curse.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

4. I don't think he helped himself with his MTP appearance.

I had been fairly positive about the switch. After hearing him today, I thought, "thanks anyway."

[Yupster]

10. To me he seemed like he was writing

Democratic primary ads against himself on MTP today.

[dgibby]

5. What's his e-mail address?

I don't live in Pa., but I'd definitely support him monetarily.

[RamboLiberal]

22. I emailed him off his website

Unlike some Congress reps sites it didn't limit me because I wasn't in his district.

[burning rain]

17. Agree.

Specter is a pox on American politics generally, but more a pox on the party he caucuses with.

[bertman]

6. If that's the case, it's time for you Pennsylvania dems to get out and start changing that

dynamic. I was reading an article earlier this week that was talking about the Pennsylvania Democratic "machine" and how it would squash any bug of a Democratic upstart who tried to run against Sphincter, I mean Specter.

Well, this is what democracy is all about. Get the grassroots going to turn the machine in its favor. Tell the bosses to shove it. That's supposed to be the Democratic way anyhoo. Aint' it??

[AllentownJake]

7. Tried that in 2008

Result was a 9.2% loss with the most charismatic politician I've ever seen.

That Politician also had a huge war chest and some of the smartest democratic campaign people in the country running his campaign. He had an army of grassroots activist knocking on doors for him and making calls.

After the primary the party people came in, and we win by over 10% in a general election.

The machine beat Barack Obama and than won the General Election for Barack Obama.

Give me a road map on how you beat an organization that smacked down Barack Obama and than won the election for him and I'll be open to listening.

I also want to add that Sestak is from the wrong part of the state to do this. Sestak is from the part of PA where the democrats vote for Arlen when he was in the GOP. What makes anyone think that those democrats that are Sestak's base will vote for him over Arlen in a primary when they were willing to vote for Arlen as a Republican in a General Election.

[bertman]

8. I don't know the answer to your very good question. All I know is that it won't happen

unless Democrats on the ground start raising holy hell and demanding a change. Specter is not fit to have the D behind his name. Oh wait, that would make him Specterd, so maybe I could live with it that way.

All foolishness aside, aren't Democrats in Pennsylvania aware of Specter's record? If not, it's up to someone to inform them. I just can't believe that the Democratic party bosses would put Specter back in office after he says some shit like "I didn't say I was going to be a loyal Democrat."

He should give them and the Obama administration plenty of ammunition to use against him over the next year or so.

Don't give up so quickly, Jake. The race has just begun.

[AllentownJake]

12. I'm talking about the present situation

In the present situation, Specter is backed by all the power brokers in PA.

[bertman]

9. I don't know the answer to your very good question. All I know is that it won't happen

unless Democrats on the ground start raising holy hell and demanding a change. Specter is not fit to have the D behind his name. Oh wait, that would make him Specterd, so maybe I could live with it that way.

All foolishness aside, aren't Democrats in Pennsylvania aware of Specter's record? If not, it's up to someone to inform them. I just can't believe that the Democratic party bosses would put Specter back in office after he says some shit like "I didn't say I was going to be a loyal Democrat."

He should give them and the Obama administration plenty of ammunition to use against him over the next year or so.

Don't give up so quickly, Jake. The race has just begun.

[JVS]

14. Arelen Specter is no Hillary Clinton

[AllentownJake]

15. Your right,

Arlen Specter has a 24 year history of being elected with strong democratic support as a Republican.

[JVS]

16. He's lost a good part of his coalition by switching parties.

I'm not sure that turning his philadelphia area dem crossovers into his new base (because the republicans won't have him any more) is enough. Running Specter, whose anti-labor stances are not going to help the functioning of "the machine" against an energized RW candidate could be a losing proposition. A lot of his electoral viability over the last decades has involved republicans holding their nose. They're not willing to do that anymore, and it is not certain that democrats, your talk of machine aside, are willing to do that either. The machine didn't prevent Santorum and didn't prevent Rendell either. If Specter makes himself unappealing to constituents other than the philadelphia set, which he seems to be gunning for, he could lose, especially in the general where the machine has less influence.

[AllentownJake]

18. The machine being against Rendell is not an entirely true statement

The party machine has its anchors in two places. Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.

Ed as a Philly politician for years had worked to develop the Philadelphia portion of the machine as District Attorney and Mayor. It is true that many in the party that had been around since Governor Casey were for Governor Casey's son, however Ed Rendell had his own political apparatus that he could turn on and than spend his time hitting the Philadelphia suburbs up to the Lehigh Valley. He had also done some time in the National DNC which gave Ed the access to some of the top democratic brains in the country.


Santorum came into power at a low tide point of PA democratic politics and in national democratic party politics. You have to remember how Santorum got into office.

Senator Harris Wofford was Bob Casey's pick to replace John Heinz after the tragedy. Harris Wofford had pissed off Bob Casey with some of his pro-choice votes in Congress. The Governor didn't come out for Wofford in the re-election campaign in 1994 and Wofford lost 49-47% We also lost the Governor's mansion that year. 1994 was the Republican Revolution.

2000 was before Santorum had come out as a total right winger. From 1994 to 2000 Santorum approached things pretty moderately compared to his term from 2001 to 2007.

As far as the machine having less influence during a General Election. The 2008 Presidential results in PA speak for the machine.


I will say this, Specter's only chink in his armor is labor. If the EFCA doesn't pass and organized labor will blame him, he's going to have one hell of a fight on his hands.


So as a long time PA political junkie that is my analysis of PA.

[AllentownJake]

19. I also want to add

The Obama campaign tried to run Ed's campaign strategy in 2002. The thing that the Obama campaign left out of the equation was the fact that Ed Rendell had built the Philadelphia machine and had spent a significant amount of his time at the end of his mayoral career and for the year after he was Mayor building relationships in the Philadelphia suburbs up to the Lehigh Valley.

Yes, he won only 10 out of 67 counties but his margins there were huge.

The Obama Campaign won 7 out of 67 counties.



The margins we won those counties by was not enough to overcome the rest of the state.

It can be argued in Sestak's favor he can give Specter a run for his money since he is from a Philadelphia suburb, it also can be argued that Sestak has no base in this primary as Specter and his base overlap. Giving Specter a chance to rely on party infrastructure for support from Pennsyltucky to Pittsburgh.

Sestak can wave a saber at Specter on the cable news channels all he wants. Unless he is willing to spend a significant amount of time in Western and Central PA over the next year, out of his own district he has no chance in hell.

Sestak has only been in office since 2006 and is not a state wide known name yet.


I'm simply presenting this as fact of the situation on the ground. There is a Governor's race in 2008 and if I get involved in a primary I'm getting involved there as it stands right now as a local is running.

I'm not charging windmills. I've gotten pretty good at this organizing thing and I have no desire to waste my time.

[AllentownJake]

20. Sorry one more piece of information

No one will want to work for Sestak. I think he's a great congressman. However, he has a reputation of being absolutely brutal to his congressional staff and his campaign staff.

Even people very sympathetic to Sestak's cause are going to back away from that campaign because everyone knows how hard he is to work for and in 2010 there is going to be a lot of competition to grab the brains for races.

The fact that by working for him, as things stand now, you will also be pissing off the power players in the party and thus, be risking future consulting or job prospects is going to play into this as well.

I know everyone is jumping on the Sestak bandwagon, however, he is not the guy you want if your goal is to actually beat Specter in a primary.

[Johonny]

11. his problems always been the same

He knows the difference between right and wrong, he just has never had the guts to vote based on it. He really is the worst type of politician.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

13. Wow, his problem is that he's a politician.

What ever shall we do?

[KharmaTrain]

21. Inside The Tent vs. Outside It...

My hopes are to see Arlen primaried by Joe Sustak...let's go PA DU'ers...you know what to do.

That said...for the meantime, playing to Arlen's ego may just get some big things done. While Arlen may not politically line up, he sure will when it comes to the folding green. What Arlen did was to switch from one financing trough to another...or so be thinks. Rendell surely waved a lot of campaign contributions in front of him...Arlen's eyes lit up and the deal was done. Now...what kind of strings are attached to the money????

This is a short-term game. What else do you play with a 79-year old Senator with a history of cancer? You find what common cause, go for it...try to twist arms on a couple things and try to bury the rest of the differences. If this means getting health care reform done this year, then it's a faustian deal that millions will be glad was made. If it means more progressive and liberal judges...not just on the SCOTUS but lower levels, it's part of the price of doing business. By yanking Specter, it put the GOOP in disaray as they still haven't figured out who will take his place as the ranking member. If there was a better time for President Obama to try to get a SCOTUS nominee through, now is the time.

Yes, it was a craven political move...by Specter and the Democratic party, but one that both feel will play to their advantage. Specter gets to avoid an embarassing primary and lives to fight another day. It also will force him to win over PA Democrats...there aren't enough "moderates" and indepedents for him to pull a Lieberman. If he doesn't move left or work to win the votes of ALL PA Democrats, he'll find himself in a tougher primary against Sustak than he would against Toomey.

[upi402]

23. He's a Republicant keeping a Dem out of office. n/t