Back in 2006, retired Vice Admiral Joe Sestak ran against and defeated long-time Republican legislator Curt Weldon, about whom enough said (but if you insist).
District 7 is one of the no-longer-red strongholds in the suburbs surrounding Philadelphia -- Gore and Kerry both won by narrow margins -- and Joe has remained popular there even in spite of the generally low opinion of Congress on the part of many of his constituents.
Read about his challenger -- and challenges -- below the fold.
Joe has been an active freshman congressperson. According to his own mailer, he has authored the most legislation of any freshman Congressman, but I don’t know how to fact-check that. His legislation has focused on support for the troops, students, and small businesses, and he has worked to provide more health insurance coverage to children by supporting SCHIP. He also received a 100% positive rating on environmental matters from the League of Conservation Voters, the highest rating of any of Pennsylvania’s reps. He's been a guest on MTP, This Week, Late Edition, Hardball, and Late Night on PBS. He's also been the Democratic responder to the weekly presidential radio address a couple of times.
W. Craig Williams, Sestak's challenger, was a tough-on-crime assistant U.S. district attorney in Philadelphia, and flew combat missions as a Marine in Operation Desert Storm. He doesn’t seem to have a website up yet, but it looks like he is one of those "the surge is working" guys, who is running against Sestak’s anti-Iraq war position. Williams is also tough on illegal immigration.
Ironically, Joe is getting hammered from both sides regarding the war in Iraq. Williams will challenge his opposition to the war, while a group called Delaware County Wage Peace & Justice marched on his office recently to complain about his "unduly cautious approach" to withdrawal of the troops. They are peeved because Sestak proposed a deliberate timeline for withdrawal early in his term, but now is talking about a measured, bi-partisan approach to withdrawal.
"Because a redeployment of troops will take a long time, we can have a bi-partisan approach to Iraq’s security. To do this, the Democratic leadership must turn from pure opposition to this war and an immediate withdrawal, and begin to help author a comprehensive regional security plan that accepts the necessity for a deliberate redeployment. In turn, the Republican leadership must accept that the U.S. government must also work diplomatically with Iran and Syria during this deliberate redeployment."
Joe also was among the 78 Democrats who voted to give President Bush another $39 billion to continue the war in Iraq. For those for whom this vote and the statement above constitute fatal errors, this would be a good time to stop reading. However:
The Red Staters are already on the alert and ready to support the challenger. "If we're serious about taking back some of the Congressional seats lost in 2006, this would be an excellent place to start" (sorry about this). If you find yourself saying "I don’t think so, pal," here is an even excellenter place.