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Specter, Sestak taking heat
The two Democrats seeking the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania both took some body shots in recent days.
But these punches were not landed by their respective opponents.
Joe Sestak, the upstart second term congressman challenging his own party as well as Sen. Arlen Specter, is feeling some serious heat to get out of the race. And it’s coming from his own party.
State Democratic Party boss T.J. Rooney came out last week and said the party would be better off if Sestak gave up his campaign to snag the nomination away from Specter and instead concentrated on running again for his 7th District seat in Congress.
The move comes in the rubble of the Democrats’ disastrous loss in the Massachusetts Senate race, and the resultant panic in national Democratic circles.
Expect the pressure to be ratcheted up on Sestak this week. It’s not a secret that party leaders were not enamored of his decision to challenge Specter. They had opened their arms after Specter’s party-switch, with President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and Gov. Ed Rendell leading the welcome wagon.
They now believe Specter could get bogged down in a costly primary that might leave him vulnerable to GOP challenger Pat Toomey in the fall.
Right now, all signals from Admiral Sestak are that it’s full speed ahead. He has no interest in getting out of the race. Even if his own party’s leaders are looking to scuttle the ship.
Specter did not escape the week unscathed either. He has drawn some rebukes and sharp criticism for a conversation he had with conservative Republican Congresswoman Rep. Michele Bachmann.
In a radio interview Specter – apparently thinking that Bachmann, R-Minn., was interrupting him – asked her to “act like a lady.”
The remark sent Republican heads spinning, and put them in attack mode against the former Republican senator.
Bachmann originally said she was stunned by the arrogance of the remarks. Several leading Republicans repudiated Specter and demanded an apology.
Specter did just that over the weekend, and now he wants to move on.
No kidding.
Now if he could just shake Joe Sestak.
But these punches were not landed by their respective opponents.
Joe Sestak, the upstart second term congressman challenging his own party as well as Sen. Arlen Specter, is feeling some serious heat to get out of the race. And it’s coming from his own party.
State Democratic Party boss T.J. Rooney came out last week and said the party would be better off if Sestak gave up his campaign to snag the nomination away from Specter and instead concentrated on running again for his 7th District seat in Congress.
The move comes in the rubble of the Democrats’ disastrous loss in the Massachusetts Senate race, and the resultant panic in national Democratic circles.
Expect the pressure to be ratcheted up on Sestak this week. It’s not a secret that party leaders were not enamored of his decision to challenge Specter. They had opened their arms after Specter’s party-switch, with President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and Gov. Ed Rendell leading the welcome wagon.
They now believe Specter could get bogged down in a costly primary that might leave him vulnerable to GOP challenger Pat Toomey in the fall.
Right now, all signals from Admiral Sestak are that it’s full speed ahead. He has no interest in getting out of the race. Even if his own party’s leaders are looking to scuttle the ship.
Specter did not escape the week unscathed either. He has drawn some rebukes and sharp criticism for a conversation he had with conservative Republican Congresswoman Rep. Michele Bachmann.
In a radio interview Specter – apparently thinking that Bachmann, R-Minn., was interrupting him – asked her to “act like a lady.”
The remark sent Republican heads spinning, and put them in attack mode against the former Republican senator.
Bachmann originally said she was stunned by the arrogance of the remarks. Several leading Republicans repudiated Specter and demanded an apology.
Specter did just that over the weekend, and now he wants to move on.
No kidding.
Now if he could just shake Joe Sestak.
posted by Heron's Nest at
7:44 AM
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