***Joe Sestak needs our help! Or -- do you want another Joe Liebermann in the Senate?***
Joe Sestak was on Hardball yesterday with the fitting and perhaps prophetic endorsement of Ned Lamont. Why do I say prophetic? Easy - the parallels between Arlen Specter and Joe Lieberman are endless. Both loved standing with Bush through Iraq, Tax cuts for Millionaires, and on thousands of other votes. Both endorsed and fought for President McCain and Vice President Palin. I repeat... If Specter had his way, we would now have a Vice President from Wasilla!
Do we want an 80 year old senator that has voted with Republicans most of his career? A man that will probably be in his last term as a senator, so he will have no re-election to hold his feet to the fire? Do we want to risk that he will vote with the Dems at least 50 percent of the time? Will Dems in PA, like myself be passionate enough to go door-to-door for Specter?
My answer - "No Way" - If asked, I will not serve!
(Portions of this diary have been taken from an old diary of mine)
On the other hand, do we want a respected, tough-minded, military vet who is proud to speak his mind and proud to be a Dem? Do we want another Dem in the senate that can speak tough and match it up with his actions? Do we want a young man that could have a very long career fighting for us?
If yes, the answer is simple - Joe Sestak should be our senator!
If you agree with me - then we need to work for Joe, and importantly - FUND HIM!! Donate here.
I am a very poor PhD student/Teaching Associate, so my funding ability is severely limited, but I will donate one dollar for every 100$ raised while this diary stays on the front page of Kos.
And I will be volunteering as much as i can this spring - join me if you are in PA!
If you can't donate, join his facebook group here.
He was on Hardball yesterday and although Sestak denied being in financial trouble, the numbers show he needs our help! Specter is a fundraising machine and is out way ahead of Sestak on that front, here is the segment:
Need to know why we should support Sestak when the PA establishment is falling behind Specter? Here are just a few of the dozens of bad decisions that Specter has made that has majority affected our lives:
Voted for Sarah Palin (Okay didn't affect our lives, but if that doesn't reflect poor decision making, then what does?)
Voted with George W. Bush 80 percent of the time.
He helped derail Health Care in the 1990's
He voted to privatize Social Security.
Voted for the Iraq War
Voted for Bush's Tax Cuts for the Wealthy.
Waffled all over the place on EFCA
Voted against the president's budget
And many, many more... Too many to list here, but some of Sestak and Specter's ratings side-by-side really show the stark difference between them:
AFL-CIO Rating: Specter 61%, Sestak 97%
League of Women voters: Specter 44%, Sestak 100%
National Education Association: Specter 56%, Sestak 100%
NAACP: Specter 76%, Sestak 95%
League of Conservation Voters: Specter 40.5%, Sestak 97%
NOW: Specter 48%, Sestak 100%
IAVA: Specter B+, Sestak A+
NARAL: Specter 67.5%, Sestak 100%
Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund: Specter 60%, Sestak 100%
Given all this, how could we really vote for Specter? There is only one justification and now it has become irrelevant - that Specter has a better chance of winning. Think about it this way: Non-presidential years are all about firing up your base, not about independents. After all that is listed above, how can we get anyone fired up around Specter? Sestak is blue through and through and also has an amazing life story and is someone that could represent PA for a long time to come.
A second possible argument would be about Specter's seniority. However, since he lost seniority in the switch to Dem anyways, Sestak and him are on equal footing, and Sestak has much more opportunity to earn seniority than the 80 year old Specter.
Besides, Specter would have to twist in so many directions to explain his many different positions that it would make Hillary explaining her war vote look simple. We have two choices - a true Democrat who can answer every question simply, has proven he is honorable every step of the way, or a senator that will have to explain 30 years of waffling, has voted for everything we hated over the last eight years, and often resorts to Rovian personal attacks on their opponent.
The answer seems simple to me, but I decided two months ago when I shook the hand of the next senator from PA:
Please visit Joe Sestak's website to see how you can help: http://JoeSestak.com