I've decided to use the occasion of one of the candidate's birthdays to present some basic facts about the two Democratic candidates' ages relative to each other and to the senate as a whole.
Joe Sestak turns 58 today. Exactly 2 months from now, Arlen will be 80.
This means that Arlen Specter was already legally eligible to drink when Joe was born. Specter voted* in his first presidential election when Joe was not quite 11 months old. The Democratic nominee was a senator from Illinois...named Adlai Stevenson, who lost to Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower. Joe Sestak's first presidential election on the other hand, would have been the first one after passage of the 26th amendment in 1971. (The '72 Nixon vs. McGovern race.)
Yes, there is a generational difference between the two main candidates in PA's Democratic Senate primary. Arlen was born before Adolf Hitler was elected chancellor of Germany or FDR was elected president. Joe Sestak was born after the Nuremberg trials had wrapped up and the United States had won WWII. Arlen Specter lists a stateside stint in the Air Force during the Korean War on his bio. When Joe Sestak graduated from the Naval Academy, Vietnam was winding down.
The Senate Median age is 62 years and 350 days. Ages of current Senators range from 40 years 203 days (George Lemieux of FL) to 92 years 21 days (Robert Byrd, D-W.VA) with a cluster of outliers (Frank Lautenberg D-NJ and the gentlemen from HI) on the older end. At 58 years old, Joe Sestak would fall below the average age for a US senator. 26 Senators are age 70 or older, whereas the World Almanac states that only 12.8% of the general US population is even 65 or older, let alone 70+.
NOTE: I am presenting this information as one factor among many in the primary. I am not saying that being almost 80 disqualifies someone or that being younger makes a person automatically better. If Specter were still a Republican and Santorum ran against him, I would vote for Specter as the lesser of two evils (per impossibile I actually changed my registration to Republican)
Update 2 While Arlen Specter was an OK Repub., he's not such a great Democrat. Joe Sestak is not only younger and healthier, but much more aware of the current situation as it unfolds. Arlen Specter represents the left(a.k.a. centrist) of Reagan Republicans. While that may have been acceptable for the 1980's and early '90s, that mindset is no longer helpful in facing 21st century issues and challenges. As a military guy Joe Sestak has had to view current realities as they are and adapt to them, and as a younger person Joe Sestak finds it easier to realize concepts such as, 'being gay is not a big deal' or 'global climate change requires our attention and actions'. After 30 years as a Republican Arlen Specter, has adapted to neither the realities of 2009 and 2010 nor the realities of the Democratic party.
*I'm assuming Arlen Specter voted for president the first time he was eligible. This was back when voting age was 21. (1930+21=1951, the next presidential election would be 1952.)