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State Democratic Party Chairman suggests Joe Sestak quit Senate bid against Arlen Specter to defend congressional seat
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| Contributor | Scott³ |
| Last Edited | Scott³ Jan 21, 2010 05:25pm |
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| Category | News |
| Author | Laura Vecsey |
| Media | Newspaper - Easton Express-Times |
| News Date | Thursday, January 21, 2010 11:00:00 PM UTC0:0 |
| Description | "A funny thing happened on the way to interpreting results of the new Rasmussen poll that has Democrat U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter trailing Republican Pat Toomey, 49-40 percent.
Pennsylvania Democratic Party Chairman T.J. Rooney made the case that U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak drop out of the Democratic primary against Specter.
Rooney made a case for what a "good Democrat" is and said it would be "travesty to lose (Sestak) in Congress. This doesn't seem to be the right time to do this.''
"A lot of folks are wishing, hoping he would take a look at this,'' Rooney said.
"Arlen Specter is a good Democrat. Joe Sestak is a good Democrat -- a great Democratic member of Congress. There's a lot to respect about Joe's beliefs, but it's shame to have to spend precious resources we could be using in other directions. It would have been unfair six months ago to say this. That was the time to go out and test the water. But we are coming up against it. Will he defeat Arlen Specter in a primary? There's no substantial movement in that direction,'' Rooney said.
The willingness on the part of Rooney to suggest Sestak quit higher office aspiration to defend his seat -- just like Republican Jim Gerlach's decision to quit the governor's race and defend his seat in the 6th Congressional District -- was a sign that Democrats are scrambling to reassess strategies.
This was made more urgent for Democrats looking to hold statehouse and Congressional seats in the wake of Republican Scott Brown's jolting win over Ted Kennedy's alleged Demcratic heir, Martha Coakley.
"This has sent shockwaves through the Democratic ranks,'' said Franklin & Marshall pollster G. Terry Madonna.
"This raises the specter that Democratic candidates are going to have to fight to save their seats,'' he said.
In looking at voters in Sestak's suburban Philadelphia seat, where Sestak actually got more votes than Barack Obama in 2008, Rooney has reason for concern." |
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