Or maybe I should have stolen the title from The Economist's article, Suspennsylvania.
Media coverage of last night's debate says (much as I predicted) that it was a draw, with neither side delivering any knock-out punches.
I consider this to be great news, because it means that Sestak's momentum remains undisturbed by ridiculous narratives about how great Republicans are, and we can continue our GOTV push, putting Joe Sestak in the Senate and making the Tea Party even more sad.
This race is now neck-and-neck. From HuffPo:
In Pennsylvania, a new Quinnipiac University survey released this morning confirms that Democrat Joe Sestak has closed the gap with Republican Pat Toomey, showing Toomey up by a slim two-point margin (48% to 46%) that falls well within the poll's margin of error.
As Politico put it, Toomey is now merely "clinging to a 2-point lead."
Also, for those of you looking for something to do on a Friday night, the next debate is tomorrow at 7PM Eastern in Pittsburgh and will be streamed live from the WPXI site.
The coverage of the debate was very ~ahem~ balanced, considering Toomey wasn't making much sense and all his plans are heartless. Sestak had a lot of zingers that made it into the press.
The Social Security question was another hot-button. Toomey supports allowing younger workers "the option" of investing some of their Social Security savings in private stock market accounts, a plan that he says will keep the system solvent without raising taxes or "cutting benefits."
Sestak was adamant in his rejection of the idea. "Toomey wants to take the security out of Social Security," he said.
[snip]
Sestak said he voted for the bailouts and stimulus to take care of the budget problems he saw when he first got to Congress in 2007.
"Sometimes you take care of other people's messes and clean them up," he said.
--- Talking Points Memo
At their first debate Wednesday night, Sestak showed that his endgame strategy is turning voters off to Toomey by linking him to polarizing figures like Palin or Christine O'Donnell in Delaware. He used their names a number of times in his answers. Toomey, after the debate, called it "silly."
But it's not silly if it's effective.
Larry Ceisler, a Democratic consultant in Philadelphia, suspects Democratic voters may be paying closer attention now. They may be disappointed in President Barack Obama, but they are afraid of the alternative after hearing about controversial Republicans such as O'Donnell, or Paul, or Angle.
--- The Morning Call
Let's keep it going folks. Help make sure Sestak can continue to fight back in this home stretch.
- Donate (Seems to me this diary series ought to be able to get at least 50 contributors - we're currently at 40 -just ten more to go!)
- Canvass --- getting out the vote is critical. You can also go to their contact us page
- Call - they have a Virtual Phone Bank, so you can make calls from anywhere! (h/t angel65)
- Send email (link takes you to the earlier diary that contains a template) or call or talk in person with those you know in Pennsylvania about this race.
- Go to go.joesestak.com (GoJoe for short) create an account, and look for ways to get involved.
- And, if you are in Pennsylvania, plan to vote, and bring as many people with you as possible.
Thanks for reading and for all your help. Make sure to check in to the next entry in the series for the latest in this incredibly important contest.
Previous diaries in the series can be found here.
Oh, and because I thought it'd be fun, I'm including the same poll I put up on Sept. 21st -- way back before this race was being paid any attention. 28% of dKos respondents had given up on this race. Let's see how we're doing now.