By not allowing the Powers That Be to force an uncongenial candidate upon his party:
Rep. Joe Sestak (D-PA) is privately telling supporters that he intends to run for Senate, TPMDC has confirmed.
“He intends to get in the race,” says Meg Infantino, the Congressman’s sister, who works at Sestak for Congress. “In the not too distant future, he will sit down with his wife and daughter to make the final decision.”
The move would constitute a primary challenge to Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA), who intends to run for re-election in 2010, after having switched parties earlier this year.
Earlier today, a Sestak volunteer and contributor received a handwritten note from Sestak himself, announcing his intent to run and asking for a contribution.
The Democrats had no business accepting Specter – its fine if Specter wants to switch parties, but there should have been no attempt by Democrat leaders to say that the PA Senate race was settled on the Democrat side. No Democrat picked Specter and until Specter passed muster with the Democrat electorate, he shouldn’t be the Democrat candidate. And just who in heck wants a turn coat, anyways? I mean, suppose the GOP gains a majority or even a very strong minority in 2010 – do Democrats think that Specter would remain loyal to them? Don’t bet on it – his party switch, alone, shows that he’s an unprincipled opportunist.
I, for one, am sick of these power players – in both parties – trying to tell the rank and file whom shall be the nominee. Right now, there are moves on the GOP side to find someone other than GOP front-runner Toomey to be the GOP candidate next year. Nonsense – anyone who is a GOPer is free to enter the contest, but there should be no pressure of any sort by the national party to try and force things one way or the other. There is no such thing as a sure loser in politics, no more than there is a sure winner – for any GOPer (Hatch, we’re looking at you) to decide that this or that GOPer can’t win is to absurdly pre-judge a case and presume to absolutely impossible knowledge. And even if it could be demonstrated by irrefutable argument that a certain candidate could not possibly win, it is still for the people to decide whom they’ll pour out there sweat and treasure for.
I hope that this proves true, that Sestak will run – he’ll get a small donation from me; not because I want to cause trouble for Democrats, but because the principle here is too important. We, the people, are supposed to rule this nation, not a bunch of self-selected leaders and “experts” who presume to know better than we do.
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