Joe Sestak is the Democratic nominee for Senate from Pennsylvania, running for what is currently Arlen Specter's seat. He's a true progressive, and came to visit Netroots Nation 2009 in Pittsburgh last year. If he is elected to the Senate, he has the capacity to help make necessary changes and enact great legislation. Right now, his campaign is at a disadvantage, but it's still possible for him to win if we help him. Right now, if you contribute money to his campaign, I will match your contributions, up to a total of $500 (ouch!).
Follow me over the jump...
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Let's start with a quote:
Pennsylvania is Philadelphia in the east, Pittsburgh in the west, and Alabama in between.
-James Carville
When we first moved to this rural hamlet in northwestern Pennsylvania, all of the politicians with any connection to the region were Republican, from the POTUS on down. Both U. S. Senators were Republican (Specter and Santorum), the House Representative (Phil English), the Governor (Tom Ridge, actually a favorite son of Erie), both State government representatives (Senate and House), and County Council Head and our Council representative as well, all were Republicans. I felt the full weight of Carville's analysis of my new home state. Being a progressive in this region was clearly going to be a hard slog.
In 2002, the Governorship turned blue when Ed Rendell was elected. Then Santorum was sacked in 2006 in favor of Bob Casey, Jr., a Democrat. In 2008, of course, a Democrat won the White House, but also, Representative Phil English was defeated by Kathy Dahlkemper, a blue dog, but blue nonetheless. Then, in 2009, Arlen Specter decided to jump ship making my entire Congressional representation Democratic. This is something I never imagined possible back in 2001. (The State reps are still Republicans, but then you can't have everything.)
In this year's election, several of those seats that turned blue are in danger of turning red again. Certainly Congresswoman Kathy Dahlkemper, in her first bid for re-election in a bad economy, has a hard fight ahead of her. Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato is running for Governor, and polls currently put him behind the Republican nominee, Tom Corbett. But tonight I want to concentrate on Joe Sestak, who is running for Arlen Spector's seat in the Senate, against former Congressman, former Chair of the Club for Growth, and all-around nasty guy Pat Toomey.
Sestak is with us on the issues. He recognizes that global climate change is a reality, and that time is long past to start working to decrease the rate of release of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere; he voted for ACES in the House. He supported and voted for healthcare reform. He was a cosponsor on the Hate Crimes Prevention Act and the Employment Non-Discrimination act, and supports the repeal of both Don't Ask, Don't Tell, and the Defense of Marriage Act. He is unashamed of his support for the stimulus bill, since it has saved many jobs in Pennsylvania. And as a retired three-star admiral, nobody can challenge him on knowledge of defense policy.
As for Sestak's opponent, Pat Toomey, well, let's just say that I never would have thought Pennsylvania was capable of producing another Republican Senate candidate as awful as Rick Santorum, but there you have it. His positions on access to healthcare, economic policy, choice, and the rights of LGBT people are all Neanderthal. He may not be as nutty as the garden variety tea-bagger, but he shares their policy goals. And judging from the few ads I've seen, he's also good at smears.
Toomey is flush with cash. Sestak is in need. Help me help Joe Sestak. Donate at this ActBlue donation link, and state how much you donated below. Up to a total of $500 (over all donors), I will match your donations. And, yes, it hurts, but when I consider how great a Senator Joe Sestak would be (compared with how awful Toomey would be), I feel deeply motivated to do what I can to put Sestak in the Senate.
Do your part, and I'll do mine. Thanks!
And, now, on to Top Comments!
From dorkenergy:
*johnsonwax*'s comment looks a few moves ahead in the Warren chess game. From bobswern's diary It's Geithner's CFPB! Naked Cap: Warren's Being Sidelined.
From sardonyx:
In Justina's snark diary Christine O'Donnell Proposes "Don't Touch, Tell All" Military Policy, Pale Jenova's foresees the inevitable fallout.
shanikka on Elizabeth Warren and why she might be accepting the position of special advisor.
In Detroit Mark's diary about the despicable Michigan Assistant Attorney General who's attacking gays on the net for their "college recruiting", newfie says he can't imagine being tricked into being gay, and mlv1055 notes how having been inundated with the "straight agenda" hasn't tempted a trial of "teh straight".
From TigerMom:
From Joan McCarter's front page diary Who hates the Girl Scouts?, MinistryOfLove makes a comment that speaks for itself.
From your humble diarist:
justmy2 provides a detailed critique of how the behavior of Democrats undermines them even when they have tremendous advantage. The comment was posted in BruinKid's recommended diary Jon Stewart warns Dems: You CAN f*ck up Delaware.
There were several good comments in Detroit Mark's recommended diaryMI Asst AG Erects Cyber Bully Web To Attack College Gays. azureblue made a suggestion, and BoxerDave replied with an even better one. Fiddlegirl makes a prediction. I also liked this comment from homogenius. (All of these can be found in Top Mojo.)
In kos' front page diary DE-Sen: O'Donnell in her own words, bobinson's response to this comment from googie made me LOL.
Top 30 Comments excluding tip jars, first comments and stuff:
1) We love you in Delaware! by Delaware Dem — 130
2) The President by TomP — 112
3) god by taylormattd — 109
4) Chris Coons - The Only Sensible Choice by JekyllnHyde — 109
5) not the only way to stop them... by BoxerDave — 91
6) I know by taylormattd — 80
7) And it will get much lower thanks to .... by SamCDC — 78
8) 31 DINOS have signed the Bean/Matheson/Nye/Peters by RFK Lives — 77
9) The media loves comeback stories by Nina Katarina — 77
10) Mark: Do This-- by azureblue — 77
11) Working hard by Chris Coons — 74
12) I blieve the Patriot Act was written... by rubine — 69
13) Don't just tip and rec by Adam B — 69
14) The Michigan Daily put it more strongly-- by homogenius — 67
15) It amazes me by JG in MD — 67
16) Time spent overseas by Chris Coons — 67
17) Welcome to Daily Kos by Joan McCarter — 66
18) Thank you for not being Martha Coakley. by jalapeno — 66
19) I'll bet that a year or two for now, by Fiddlegirl — 65
20) Great idea. by happy camper — 64
21) Cedwyn, if you think for a nanosecond by nyceve — 62
22) You are WILDLY overreacting. And I stand by by Yosef 52 — 58
23) Thanks by Chris Coons — 58
24) This isn't about getting a bone. by Code Monkey — 57
25) That's just too bad... by Jonze — 57
26) Absolutely by Chris Coons — 57
27) PS to all by azureblue — 56
28) Typing away! by iankoski — 55
29) Photo!? by Chris Coons — 55
30) I donated $50 to Coons today. by jdld — 54
Top 30 Comments with no exclusions, aka the Tip Jar & Pooties list :-):
1) Tip Jar by Chris Coons — 390
2) Tip Jar by Detroit Mark — 373
3) Tip Jar by TomP — 341
4) Tip Jar by blackwaterdog — 307
5) Tips for Boxer's punches! by deaniac83 — 289
6) Tip Jar by BryanLong — 230
7) Tip Jar by Stephanie Taylor — 212
8) I originally didn't post this because by Colorado is the Shiznit — 200
9) Tip Jar by Bensonola — 199
10) Tip Jar by BruinKid — 196
11) Tip Jar by Deep Harm — 173
12) Tip Jar by nyceve — 158
13) Tip Jar by Back To Basics — 147
14) Tip Jar by RenMin — 137
15) We love you in Delaware! by Delaware Dem — 130
16) Tip Jar by Yosef 52 — 122
17) The President by TomP — 112
18) Tip Jar by HylasBrook — 111
19) god by taylormattd — 109
20) Chris Coons - The Only Sensible Choice by JekyllnHyde — 109
21) not the only way to stop them... by BoxerDave — 91
22) Tip Jar by GN1927 — 83
23) Tip Jar by Darnell From LA — 80
24) I know by taylormattd — 80
25) And it will get much lower thanks to .... by SamCDC — 78
26) The media loves comeback stories by Nina Katarina — 77
27) 31 DINOS have signed the Bean/Matheson/Nye/Peters by RFK Lives — 77
28) Mark: Do This-- by azureblue — 77
29) Tip Jar by Ojibwa — 75
30) Keep O'Donnell.... by StuHunter — 75