The tough old bird
A radio show on the likely Specter-Sestak race
The tough old bird
Dick Polman, Inquirer National Political Columnist
I can't speak for other scribes, but I've always found talking (and talking and talking) to be far easier than writing. So I suppose that today I've taken the easy way out, by focusing on my gig as a guest on Philadelphia NPR.
For an hour this morning on "Radio Times," we kicked around the impending Pennsylvania Senate Democratic race, which is shaping up as a big national story. Newly-minted Democrat Arlen Specter, the tough old bird who could probably survive a nuclear blast by opening his umbrella, is likely to be challenged for the 2010 nomination by upstart Democratic congressman Joe Sestak, the tough ex-Navy rear admiral who seems blithely unconcerned that the entire party establishment has already marked him as roadkill.
Sestak wants to challenge Specter from the left, by reminding liberal primary voters that Specter, before switching sides in order to maximize his survival options, actually voted with George W. Bush 80 percent of the time. Sestak, again this week, reiterated his intention to run (although he has invoked the "family" loophole, suggesting that if he backs down in the end, it's only because his family insists.) And Specter appears to be taking the threat seriously; he's not just holding fundraisers, he even asked for money the other day at a health policy conference of medical equipment suppliers.
Anyway, during the radio show, I asked my fellow guest - Chris Borick, director of the Institute of Public Opinion at Muhlenberg College - whether he agreed with my theory that a contested primary, while potentially divisive for the Democrats, would actually benefit the Obama legislative agenda, because Sestak would force Specter to lean leftward on crucial Senate votes and thus ratchet up his displays of newfound Democratic loyalty. (And tacking leftward in the primary wouldn't torpedo Specter's general election prospects - or Sestak's prospects, for that matter - because the Obama agenda is broadly popular in Pennsylvania, and because likely Republican candidate Pat Toomey is too conservative for the blue-trending electorate anyway.)
Borick did agree with my theory, but only up to a point. He believes that Sestak would help Obama and the Democrats "keep a leash" on Specter through the election season - but not beyond. He said that if Specter survives a primary, and beats a Republican challenger in November '10, he would return to the Senate as an 80-year-old independent player, freer than ever to confound his new Democratic allies, for years. True that. And besides, as I noted later, the guy is going to live forever.
The audio of the show is archived here.
Dutch- come on now. After 9-11 we had a 6 year economic exansion. Over 5 million jobs were created. Unemployment dipped as low as 4.9% But we had a lending frenzy fueled by the Community Reinvestment Act and Human greed that brought it all down. Some common sense and low cost regulation could have spared it all from happening.- Change in the National Debt, as a yearly percentage of GDP. Sorted Best-to-Worst. D:Clinton -0.76 (reduced the debt) D:Carter -0.70 (reduced the debt) R:Ford 0.20 (no change) R:Bush II 0.90 (increased the debt) R:Reagan 2.31 (increased the debt) R:Bush I 3.05 (increased the debt)— PA_Dutch
- "D:Carter -0.70 (reduced the debt)" Inflation was fun, though! Let's see, a recession at the end of the Carter presidency, a recession at the end of the Clinton presidency, a recession at the end of the Bush presidency...does it even matter who's in office?— Vandy
- Dutch- Here is a link to the historical debt. Clinton grew the debt by 1.2 trillion. http://www.treasurydirect.gov/govt/reports/pd/histdebt/histdebt_histo4.htm
- Median household income fell an average of 1.15 percent per year under Bush. It rose an average of 1.65 percent per year under Clinton— PA_Dutch
- Swedesboro, Those debt numbers don't look too good for your side. Fortunately for you they only go up to 99.— PA_Dutch
- Dutch- Household income has risen steadily. Here is a link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Household_income_in_the_United_States
- "Those debt numbers don't look too good for your side. Fortunately for you they only go up to 99." I haven't seen the charts, but I'd pose a question. You're focusing on the President when it's actually Congress that creates legislation. What do the numbers look like when a Democratic president is confronted with a Republican congress instead of a Democratic congress? (For instance, how do Clinton's first two years compare to his last six?) And how do they look now with the Obama/Pelosi Democratic double team?— Vandy
- Pa_Dutch - 1. am liking the Funky Joe, may switch to it if this handle ever gets sent to the penalty box. 2 - Obama has one truly exceptional gift and that is oration. That he needs a crutch to manifest it is funny, in a OMG 3 years left (actually 3 years way left) kind of way.— Joe Funk
- Dutch- Here is a link that shows the debt through 2008. You are right Bush was a big spender. He added to the bloated government by creating prescription drug care and the office of Homeland Security. Bush was a big liberal on many things. If he had " D " in front of his name you guys would have loved him. I liked Bush for his resolve on getting to the root of the problems in the Middle East and for cutting taxes. But his spending was atrocious. At the pace Obama is going, he's gonna make Bush look fiscally resonsible..... But anyway he is the link to the Federal Debt. No modern president ever ran a surplus. To say Clinton ran a suplus is to give credence to Arthur Anderson style accounting.......http://www.treasurydirect.gov/govt/reports/pd/histdebt/histdebt.htm
- Swmike, from your link "Overall, the median household income rose from $33,338 in 1967 to an all-time high of $44,922 in 1999, and has since decreased slightly to $43,318"— PA_Dutch
- LJL - I would be more impressed if Obama (or any Democrat) had tried to rein in Israel before they switched their campign financing from the American branch of Bank Israel to the China Savings and Loan. Peking got a bargain buying this administration.— Joe Funk
- Dutch- put your reading glasses on and go back and check again. In 2007 the household income has risen to $50,233. You claim it was at at an all time high in 1999 at $44,922.
- Obama has killed more in Pakistan, since taking office than last 5 years. Oh, he kills woman and children though, not those with guns. Even WHHY is carrying this. "The UN Human Rights Council has issued a report blasting the US for killing civilians, violating human rights and creating a “zone of impunity” for unaccountable private contractors to fight its wars. The UN group also criticized the US use of drones to attack Pakistan. The report, released this week was authored by Philip Alston, the U.N. special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions. “First, the government has failed to track and make public the number of civilian casualties, or the conditions under which deaths occurred,” he said. “Second, the military justice system fails to provide ordinary people, including U.S. citizens and families of Iraqi and Afghan victims, basic information on the status of investigations into civilian casualties or prosecutions resulting therefrom."— Fisher
- I think what the liberals have to realize is that this isn't the 1990's and Clinton is not president. We've got debt that will rise to 97% of GDP in 2010. High Unemployment and rising entitlement oblibations are the storm clouds that spell an even larger financial mess that no amount of media bias can spin it in Obama's favor. I doubt Obama will get re-elected. Eventually this act is going to get tiresome.
Cited by the Columbia Journalism Review as one of the nation's top political reporters, and lauded by the ABC News political website as "one of the finest political journalists of his generation," Dick Polman is a national political columnist at the Philadelphia Inquirer. He is on the full-time faculty at the University of Pennsylvania, as "writer in residence." Dick has been a frequent guest on C-Span, MSNBC, CNN, NPR and the BBC. He covered the 1992, 1996, 2000, and 2004 presidential campaigns.
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