The article incorrectly lumps retired Navy Admiral and former U.S. Congressman, Joe Sestak, running for the United States Senate, in with the "upstarts". He is better described as a highly qualified and experienced, long time, independent Democrat whom the party hacks/insiders (like Rahm) have long loathed for his independence. He was forced into retirement from the Navy when he spoke out against massive military boondoggles. He then ran for Congress (after Rahm told him not to, saying no Democrat could win his district) and was elected to 2 terms and then ran for the U.S. Senate.
Sestak ran successfully for Pennsylvania's 7th congressional district, making him the second Democrat to win in the traditionally Republican district since the Civil War. The race was in the national spotlight, as it was profiled in Time Magazine as the harbinger of the national political climate of the 2006 elections and the most-watched swing district in the country.
Here's his performance in two terms as a U.S. Congressman:
Legislation and key votes
Sestak wrote various pieces of bi-partisan legislation that successfully passed Congress. In 2008, he was identified by the National Journal as "at the ideological center of the House."
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer named Sestak the most productive freshman member of Congress in 2007.
In the 111th United States Congress, Sestak's last term in office, Congress passed more bills written by Sestak than bills written by both of Pennsylvania's Senators, combined.
Most significantly, he created the House Pediatric Cancer Caucus, which he co-chaired; extended benefits for those seeking work (COBRA) as a part of the JOBS bill; co-wrote the amendment to give small businesses tax credits, as a part of health care reform, and moved the first significant federals funds into autism care and research, nicknamed the "Sestak Amendment."
As Congress' senior veteran, he was an original co-sponsor of the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell as well as the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act.
Sestak also heavily advocated for the end of tax payer-paid bailouts to banks in the Wall Street Reform Bill. Sestak voted for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, but lamented the fact that it did not provide enough accountability measures.
He also voted for the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, the American Clean Energy and Security Act, and the Affordable Health Care for America Act.
He wrote and submitted one piece of legislation that generated attention, but eventually failed in Congress, was the first legislation to restrict the effects of the controversial ruling of Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Sestak
He did not just jump in this year to run against an incumbent or higher ranking Dem. He's been running for the past 5 years for the Senate seat he very narrowly (two percent) lost in 2010 to GOP-er Pat Toomey, who outspent Sestak by some $7 million and still only squeaked out a victory. This was the year that the GOP swept up a lot of offices.
The state and national Dem. organizations didn't contribute a penny to Sestak's first Senate race, although he did get contributions from John Grisham, Jimmy Buffet and many, many military vets from around the country.
In 2015, the state and national Dem. party machines floundered through a couple of primary candidates who quickly dropped back out, trying to find someone - ANYONE - to run against Sestak, and finally, less than a year before the primary, came up with a pro-fracking candidate who has never held political office, who made a mockery of Pennsylvania's Dept. of Environmental Protection when she was appointed to head it, left it to work with fracking/Big Energy concerns and whose husband is a Big Fracking lobbyist. But, hey! in upside-down-world, she bills herself as the environmental candidate!
And h-e-e-e-e-r-e's the Dem establishment's candidate, Frackin' Katie:
http://energyjusticesummer.org/candidate-katie-mcginty-the-environmentalist-for-fracking-fact-sheet/
– After DEP, McGinty went to work as Senior Vice President and Managing Director, Strategic Growth at Weston Solutions, Inc., a gas industry consulting firm and member of the
Marcellus Shale Coalition, enjoying the revolving door open to regulators among companies they are supposed to oversee. (McGinty’s LinkedIn Profile)
- McGinty more recently has worked for the shale gas industry as a business partner of Ed Rendell’s at Element Partners, which
provides investment capital to shale gas industry start-ups. (“Keystone XL Influence Peddling Web Extends into PA Governor’s Race Via Katie McGinty” -DeSmogBlog)
– When McGinty ran for governor in 2014, she hired Mike Mikus to be her campaign manager. Mikus is a V. P. of IES Solutions, an
energy consulting firm that represents the Colorado Oil & Gas Association and he is Executive Director for Consumer Energy Alliance’s Mid-Atlantic region which supports drilling on public lands. (
http://www.solutions-ies.com/, “CEA Applauds Approval of Marcellus Shale Production on Airport Land by Allegheny County Council” -CEA)
Sestak is the highest ranking military officer ever elected to the United States Congress. But unlike Hillary, he is NOT a war hawk. He knows we need to have a viable military option in foreign affairs. As he says, military intervention is on the table, but it's at the BACK of the table, and it is the very last option to be utilized.
Following in his father's footsteps, Sestak was accepted into the U.S. Naval Academy immediately after graduating high school, during the Vietnam War. In 1974, Sestak graduated second in his class of over 900 midshipmen, with a Bachelor of Science degree in American political systems. Between tours at sea, Sestak earned a Master of Public Administration and a Ph.D. in political economy and government from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in 1980 and 1984, respectively.
Controversy stirred over his leaving of the navy, as it was reported that it was because
he "ruffled feathers" within the Bush Administration and conflicted with Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld because Sestak pushed for spending cuts. In an investigative report by The Philadelphia Inquirer, Chief of Naval Operations Vern Clark stated that Sestak "wanted straight talk, and this put [Sestak] in the crosshairs. People are going to say what they want to say, but
he challenged people who did not want to be challenged. The guy is courageous, a patriot’s patriot."
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