Okay, so, as a progressive, here is what I wanted to see tonight.
1. Kentucky Senate- Attorney General Jack Conway win the primary against Lt. Gov. Dan Mongiardo. Check.
2. Kentucky Senate- Rand Paul win the primary against Secretary of State Trey Grayson. Check.
3. Arkansas Senate- Blanche Lincoln be forced into a runoff against Lt. Gov. Bill Halter. Not certain, but still looking good.
4. Pennsylvania Senate- Rep. Joe Sestak end Snarlin’ Arlen’s career. Check.
5. Pennsylvania 12th District- Mark Critz beat Tim Burns in the Special Election. Check.
6. Pennsylvania 6th District- Manan Trivedi defeat Doug Pike. Too close to call.
It’s been an excellent night and it could still get better. I actually care about Trivedi winning more than these other races. He’s up, but it’s still gonna be close.
I’m a little surprised that I actually feel a pang of empathy for Specter. But, hey, I almost considered voting for him for a microsecond. Well, I am not even sure if that’s true. It’s hard to detect a microsecond.
I have to say I ALMOST felt sorry for Spector. Almost.
Back and to the left. And I’m not talking about the political spectrum either.
Sestak just gave a Tea bagger acceptance speech. Yeah, he’s going to be a great friend of progressives.
Chris Matthews just laid out Sestak’s general campaign. He’s going to run as Arlin Specter with a D by his name. He’s going to run as a gun toting, pro-defense, and fiscally conservative Democrat. That’s a win for progressives?
Well, be careful.
But, he’s much better than Specter and he has a slightly better chance of holding the seat for the Dems.
My guess is the Manic-Progressives will be claiming Sestak is a progressive right up until the day he actually wins the seat, then start whining about how he sold them out when shows his centrist ways once he’s sworn in. Sound familiar?
And yes, if he used his victory speech to cheap shot Specter he’s a dick.
No, white progressives should be careful. Because I and a lot of Black folks can see through this bull shit. This is clearly not about effecting progressive policy but rather undermining our president. Every interview Sestak has given has been a thinly veiled attack on the President. Someone needs to tell that idiot that the same Philadelphia vote that didn’t show up for Specter yesterday won’t show up for home either in November if he continues to play to Joe Scarborough rather than the voters he’ll need in November. I just watched him and Howard Dean on Morning Joe trying to legitimize the “Tea Party”. What the fuck would a so-called progressive have in common with Sarah Palin and the white racist base of the Republican Party aka the Tea Party? Tell me!
WTF? That qualifies as a thoroughly incomprehensible screed.
Oh you comprehended. You just don’t like being called on your bull shit. And it is pure bull shit to say that Sestak is better than Specter when their politics are essentially identical. The only marked difference is Specter demonstrated dignity in defeat, and Sestak revealed himself as a grade A ass hole in victory. It’s pure bull shit for any so-called progressive to go on television and speak complimentary of Rand Paul and the Tea Party who subcribe to the belief that civil rights is constitutional over-reach; abortion rights and gay rights are unconstitutional; immigration should be halted completely; the New Deal was a travesty; and the President is unamerican–as both Howard Dean and Joe Sestak did this morning on Morning Joe. It’s pure bull shit for a sitting Democratic Congressman to spend more time attacking his own party and President than his Republican opponent and opposition party–as Sestak has done in the last 8 hours and presumedly will do thru November. And it’s pure bull shit that the only “progressive” agenda “progressives” seem to have is opposing the President. WTF right back at you!
I have no clue what you are talking about, I didn’t see the speech and I doubt I would see it the same way you do.
Can you elaborate with what he had said that was such a backhanded swipe at Obama/AAs? I’m truly awestruck by the fierce anger in your posts, and haven’t seen anything similar to it before now.
I’m with you. But obviously something has struck a nerve here. I just don’t get it. Sorry.
When did Sestak attack Obama? lol
It now looks almost certain that Lincoln is headed for a run-off. She might even come in second place tonight.
The pang of empathy for Specter is normal, especially considering how painful that speech was to watch. While he may be a cynical political animal, that speech was from a totally and completely broken man. A man that no one wants, and was flat out embarrassed on the most public stage possible. Couple that with the history and length of his tenure…ugh, that’s a long way to fall in a matter of a year.
So yes, the empathy is certainly understandable. But, well, you know…fuck him. Sestak will be a better Democratic Senator, and has a better chance of winning the seat in the first place. It’s time to trim the fat in the Democratic party, and Specter had to go.
He had an option however – instead of switching parties, he could have just announced his retirement, and he could have ridden off into the sunset..
But he didn’t. He wanted this seat so badly that he switched parties in a fairly transparent attempt to hang on for one more term..
I have no idea where the hostility to Joe Sestak around here is coming from. He has been my congressman for the past two terms and is an incredibly hard-working, honest, passionate, and responsible politician. All of this “he’s no progressive” BS is really ridiculous and reflects a total lack of historical perspective and political knowledge. To become our congressman, Sestak defeated Curt Weldon, a ten-term Republican incumbent, in 2006, and now represents a district that for decades was one of the safest Republican districts not just in PA but in the country. Democratic registration in Delaware County has surged recently, but some history for you: in 1998, registered Republicans had a 63%-28% advantage over Democrats in Delco. In 2000, there were 212,613 registered Republicans and only 98,036 Democrats. By 2007, the numbers were still 197,000 R-132,821 D. In 2006, when Sestak was elected, PA-7 (which includes slivers of Chester and Montgomery counties) was 55% R to 32% D. Jesus Christ– who do you expect Sestak to be– Dennis Kucinich?
Equally confusing is the sympathy here for Snarlin’ Arlen Specter, a Republican for all but the last five minutes or so who should have just maintained a shred of dignity by retiring gracefully without switching parties in a desperate and bald-faced attempt to cling to power well into his ninth decade. There should be nothing but euphoria for Sestak’s convincing win last night and massive support for him as he heads into a very difficult run against Grover Norquist protege Pat Toomey.
I have no sympathy ofr Arlen Specter, but I don’t believe Sestak’s a progressive either. That’s not to say he’s not a hardworking, responsive politician, but he just ain’t a progressive Democrat. He’s not a conserva-dem like Ben Nelson, but Sestak broke two very important promises he made to progressives: he said he wouldn’t vote for more war and he did, and he said he would hold the phone companies accountable for braking the law, and instead voted to give them retroactive immunity from prosecution.
Not a progressive. He’ll be like a pro-choice Bob Casey.
He’s my congressman too!!!
Can anyone please give a little background on Toomey? I haven’t followed that side at all.
He’s a Club for Growth teabagger .. in fact .. he used to run Club for Growth till he decided to take on Specter a second time
he’s a right-winger’s right-winger.
he didn’t go ‘ right’ to ‘ win the primary’.
he’s genuinely, honestly, a ‘true believer’.
and it is Sestak’s job and the Democratic Party’s job to make sure Toomey doesn’t know how to spell the word ‘MODERATE’ and is a stone-cold right-winger, up and down.
One thing is pissing me off tonight. People outside PA probably don’t know that each candidate has the county they live in printed on the ballot under their name.
In PA-06, Doug Pike had ‘Chester County’ printed on the ballot while Manan Trivedi had ‘Berks County’ printed under his name. What happened is that low information voters just voted for their county and Chester County has the most votes in the district. If you look at Montgomery County, Trivedi cleaned up. He also cleaned up in his home county. But, he might lose just on the basis of Pike winning huge in Chester County. Without the county being listed, Trivedi would probably have won in Chester as decisively as he won in Montgomery.
What that also tells me .. is that Pike’s TV ads were a waste .. and I didn’t even notice that county thing .. till I saw the ballot earlier today
the AP has called it for Trivedi but it’s so close.
Wow, only 500 votes or so. Good for Trivedi, I would have hated to see Pike win after his complete inability to answer the “What comittees would you be interested in serving on?” question last summer. I could barely listen to him for another minute after that fumble.
I hope Trivedi is able to beat Gerlach.
The local election results are showing he won. Thank God for that! I absolutely believe that he can beat Gerlach. I can’t be the only one pissed at the cookie cutter/GOP lockstep that Gerlach has been stuck in. The thing that pushed me over the edge was when I called his office to ask if he supported the GOP’s extreme rhetoric during the Presidential election. I got a form letter about TARP! WTF???!!! That was it! He didn’t listen, he didn’t care. He needs to go!
And it’s a district that Democrats have carried at the national level since Gore
Fantastic night. Everyone who voted should be proud of themselves. We couldn’t have asked for anything more. I’ll sleep well tonight.
I felt a little bad for Specter, I mean honestly, he’s been a Senator since before I was born, and he did have to go through Chemo.
While I probably would’ve voted for Sestak, I think that he was a bit of a jerk early on in his victory speech (really, taking a pot-shot at Specter after he gave a pretty gracious concession was a bit much).
I wasn’t paying much attention when he began his speech. He really took a potshot at Specter?
Low class if he did.
What did he say?
I’m a little surprised that I actually feel a pang of empathy for Specter. But, hey, I almost considered voting for him for a microsecond. Well, I am not even sure if that’s true. It’s hard to detect a microsecond
who says BooMan don’t got jokes?
BWA HA HA H AH HA HA HA
of concession and congratulations.
What a turd.
He really is! I hope he goes down in flames! The little bits I heard of his victory speech were beyond insane.
I wonder how many Grayson voters will vote for Paul come November
A lot will defect to Conway. They’re really polarized.
Most will vote for Paul instead of voting for a “lihbrul” but Conway will attract more crossover votes than Dr. Dan would have. Dr. Dan (who I voted for and donated to) has a bit of a soft and effeminate style to him which doesn’t play well with the hillbillies – the irony is that Conway is the one who’s actually in the closet (according to local politicos). Conway should win in a walk – Rand’s nuts, even b Kentucky’s exceedingly low standards.