Who can better beat Specter in '10: Sestak or Matthews? I don't want a Franken repeat!

[Unsane]

PA could be a very solid pickup, as it is a blue state and Specter has problems in his own party. Much like the '08 MN race, the republican SHOULD lose, but dem hubris to put a 'star' on the ticket (read Franken) could make the pickup harder than it needs to be!

[GarbagemanLB]

1. Anyone but Chris. I'm sure Specter's team can't wait to start digging through all of Matthew's

off-hand and sometimes off-color remarks he's said on air.

[Captain Hilts]

6. He's also very unhealthy. nt

[Unsane]

7. Is there a story behind this?

Or are you just making shit up? I've heard several people mention this.

[Name removed]

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[Name removed]

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[Captain Hilts]

15. Yes, he's had some prolonged absences from Hardball. nt

[wyldwolf]

2. lol

Just lol.

[AllentownJake]

3. Sestak

Is what Wes Clark should have done in 2004 instead of running for congress. If he picks up a Senate Seat he would be a very good Presidential candidate in 2016.

[Unsane]

4. Clark didn't run for Congress in '04

I assume you meant to type, "instead of running for President."

[AllentownJake]

5. LOL yep

If Clark would have got elected maybe ran for govenor in Arkansas or Senate in Arkansas he would have made a more plausible Presidential candidate.

[Joe Bacon]

8. Sestak, Altmire, Rendell, ANYONE but Tweety!

Please ANYONE but Tweety!

[AlinPA]

9. No way that people in PA woud vote for Matthews over Specter. No way.

[Unsane]

10. Maybe Matthews believes Specter is retiring?

Who knows. I don't think the '10 midterms will be particularly great for us.

[ShadowLiberal]

11. As a PAer I'm 99% certain that Matthews can't beat Specter, Matthews is too controversial

Like you said Franken was a weak candidate, there were plenty of other democrats with far less negatives then him who could probably have won the seat outright on election day without this recount madness.

Rendell would probably be the best guy we could run against Specter, but Rendell isn't interested in running for the senate unfortunately, he's said he wants to retire from politics once his second term as governor is up.

[Unsane]

12. Rendell would hands down be the strongest candidate.

But like you, I assume he isn't running. I'm afraid the media/big money will get behind Matthews even if it means better candidates (Sestak) get pushed to the side.

[AllentownJake]

19. I'm not a praying man...

but I pray for that man's retirement from public life in 2010.

The only way I can see myself volunteering for Tweety in the primary is if Rendell is his opponent.

[Occam Bandage]

16. MN'08 was/is not Dem hubris.

It's Franken hubris. The DFL was far from happy about the Franken nomination. There was barely even a primary; Franken brought in tons of out-of-state money and media attention, and that kept most of the actual politicians out of the race. The only people who ran against him were Kucinich-esque professor and complete unknown Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer (who didn't even set foot outside the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area once during the "campaign"), and perennial self-financed loser Mike Ciresi.

Franken never had the Dems united behind him. At the state convention, he only captured 62% of the delegates, with Nelson-Pallmeyer taking 38% in a mass protest vote (the guy didn't hit double digits in our internal statewide polling). In the September primary (which really is only meaningful for state house candidates, but which all candidates participate in, and which for Senate races is usually only a one-candidate formality in yet another MN quirk), Franken only took 65% of the vote, with the rest going to a pack of vanity candidates with neither financing nor support from anyone but themselves. For comparison, Coleman took 92% of the support in his own party. It's shocking that Franken is as close as he is, given how little MN Democrats like him.

[Unsane]

17. "Kucinich-esque professors"

lol

[Occam Bandage]

18. I voted for Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer, both at the caucus and at the convention.

I like him a great deal, and I wanted him to beat Franken at the convention. But he's the type of candidate who realistically never has half a shot; he didn't have any support whatsoever outside young, middle-class-to-affluent progressives living in the Minneapolis/Saint Paul area. A lack of advertising money and a strong, brash, liberal persona will do that to a candidate.

[BumRushDaShow]

20. If Specter runs again, neither.

Specter is a pro-choice repuke (and former Democrat) who brings the bacon home to Philadelphia, his home base as a young D.A. back in the day. And unfortunately, it is Philadelphia that gives him the margin of victory (crossover votes from Democrats) in every election.

[Radical Activist]

21. Sestak

Media personalities always overestimate the importance of name recognition when they run for office. Personal relationships are more important. Has Matthews been doing much in PA for the past few years or has he been in NY and DC?

[AtomicKitten]

22. Mathews has name recognition, both a plus and a minus for him.