I hope the Sestak win sends a message to the democratic party

[Juche]

Don't take your base for granted. Supposedly in the days before the election Obama tried to distance himself from Specter in case Specter lost (the same way Coakley's lost might have cost him political capital), but everyone knows who he was supporting in this election.

I understand Specter did some good in the 111th congress. W/o his 60th vote we wouldn't have the stimulus or health insurance reform. But after the pressure was off from the election, he would've become a republican again. He went from about 60% democrat when not under pressure, to 16% when being primaried by Toomey, back to 60% after switching to the democratic party, up to 97% after being primaried by Sestak. Once the pressure was off he'd go back to 50-60% democrat.



But the dem party establishment thought they could just appoint a republican to a democratic seat and tell the base to sit down, shut up and accept it. And they/we didn't. Of all the politicians and movements I've donated to, donating to Sestak was one of the most gratifying.

[eleny]

1. Lawrence O'Donnell just commented on this on MSNBC...

He said that "the White House is reeling over this and they should be".

I'm glad he said that.

[scheming daemons]

4. Lawrence is wrong

If Obama wanted Specter to win, he wouldn't have backed away over the past two weeks.


He flew PAST Pennsylvania today to speak in Youngstown Ohio.


Obama is not upset by this... and Rahm certainly isn't either.

[Juche]

8. He backed off to avoid the toxic side effects

If you are associated with too many losing teams it affects your credibility. Obama backed Coakley and she lost. If he had been strongly tied to Specter and Specter lost, it would've damaged his credibility further.

He backed off the last 2 weeks to cover his ass. He also offered a job to Sestak several months ago if he'd drop out of the race.

[eleny]

33. No wonder the White House is "reeling" over the loss

This Primary story makes them look bad.

[inna]

22. Obama was pro-Specter.

[FrenchieCat]

27. Obama was pro Dem votes in the Senate....which is what he got.....

till next January. Sestak Doesn't pack his suitcase for Washington's senate till then.

Two years worth of votes. So Obama is pro getting is fucking agenda through.
But nice try!

[inna]

29. Huh? WTF?

[FrenchieCat]

30. Obama was pro-Dem vote...which is what Specter has been and will be till January.

The trade off was that Obama would back Specter in the primary,
which he did.

Not only is Obama pro-passing his agenda, he also kept his word on this.

[flyarm]

25. Obama knew damn well what the inside numbers were..that is why he backed off..

but remember he was pushing hard for Specter last week with his former web groups!

[eleny]

32. So Obama lied when he exclaimed, "I love Arlen Specter!"?

:eyes:

[Schema Thing]

11. no reason for the WH to be "reeling" from this.

that's just silly.

[butterfly77]

18. Some seem to think that we don't have our own minds...

and we will do or agree with everything the pres does or tells us to do. Specter was a Republicon and I don't care what he voted for with the Dems,he needed to be coaxed and coddled,good riddance..

[scheming daemons]

2. I guarantee you that behind the scenes the White House is happy with this result

They gave lukewarm support to Specter early to keep their end of the bargain when Specter switched parties..

But the White House is not bothered by Specter's loss.

[AlinPA]

7. That's the way I see it.

[Juche]

13. That is not the way I see it

Keep in mind this is the same Obama who campaigned for Lieberman to beat Lamont back in 2006.

If Obama wanted Sestak to win, he wouldn't have offered him a cushy job to drop out of the race.

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2010/0316/Did-the-White-House-offer-Joe-Sestak-a-job

The issue has been percolating for weeks. Last month, Philadelphia TV newsman Larry Kane asked Congressman Sestak if he had been offered “a high-ranking job in the administration” to get him not to run for the Senate. “Yes,” Sestak replied.

[flyarm]

26. Bull hockey! eom

[dmallind]

3. You think Sestak represents the base? How so? NT

[Juche]

6. Because he wasn't a republican senator for 28 years

Also, this

http://www.slideshare.net/DocJess/sestak-v-specter

[uberblonde]

12. No, he was an independent for close to three decades.

Until Rahm recruited him to run for Congress.

So much for the Sestak "good Democrat" mythology. In fact, Arlen Specter was a Dem longer than Joe Sestak was.

[Juche]

15. Did you read the scorecard

Granted, it is Sestak political info but every left wing or liberal organization listed gave higher ranks to Sestak than Specter.

[AlinPA]

37. You still don't get it; military officers like Admirals and Generals do not claim a party

because of their rank.

[JI7]

31. neither has Lieberman

[Juche]

34. Obama campaigned for Lieberman too

And the base chose Lamont for the primary. Lieberman only won because of the republicans who voted for him.

[JVS]

35. Oh dear!

[laughingliberal]

9. I think Sestak has been perceived as the more liberal candidate

I'm not convinced this is true but I do think it shows the Democratic electorate in PA rejected the 'moderate' approach we've been seeing.

[AlinPA]

38. Everyone I've talked with rejected Specter because they did not trust him. bt

[OHdem10]

5. Also Crist, Dem. keeps Murtha's old seat in Democratic Hands.

Democrats are doing ok I would say.

[laughingliberal]

10. Yay! nt

[Abq_Sarah]

14. I don't think a Specter defeat

Is indicative of anything other than most people really dislike Specter. Party hopping for political gain isn't always rewarded.

[Juche]

16. It is a sign that the dem establishment can't expect voters to passively fall into line

And support whoever they appoint.

[laughingliberal]

19. +1000 nt

[PA Democrat]

24. +1. I got an email yesterday slamming Sestak from the PA Democratic Party.

The word was that the party machine was going to have a big GOTV effort for Specter. At my polling place there was a guy from the AFL-CIO but he was handing out literature for state representative candidate but nothing for Specter.

[Individualist]

17. K&R

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

20. I hope the Sestak win sends a message to the President of the United States!

(1) Stay out of local politics during the primaries unless you support the true, loyal Democrat.
(2) Stop taking the base for granted. We are not lemmings like the Republican voters. We are independent-minded.
(3) Give us a candidate that we can get excited about. Apparently, turnout was horrible in Philly. Minorities were simply not excited about Specter despite protestations of Nutter and "Fast Eddie". Again, we can make up our own minds. We don't need the president trying to tell us who to support.

[lonestarnot]

21. Doing that right now!

:applause:

[JI7]

23. the base is moderate like Sestak ?

[depakid]

36. They're certainly not Republicrat like Specter

Looks like ole Blanche is in for the backlash, too.

[unkachuck]

28. "...sends a message to the democratic party..."

....yep, they'll have to work harder to bullshit us....