Sestak's biggest plus: No one's supporting him
The ultimate Yogi Berra-ism is when the Yankees' great said about a particular restaurant: "Nobody goes there anymore -- it's too crowded." It actually makes sense in the context of the "somebodies" not going to the restaurant are presumably the people Berra knows and that matter to him. In the same sense, you could say that Joe Sestak's big selling point in a primary challenge to suddenly-Democratic Sen. Arlen Specter is that "nobody" supports him:
Certainly, Democrats upset at having Specter stuffed down their throats are open to an alternative.
Sestak comes credentialed: Naval Academy grad (second in his class; first was Rodney W. Savage, a White House physician during the Reagan years); master's degree in public administration, Ph.D. in political economy and government, both from Harvard; three-star admiral, 31 years' service; White House director of defense policy for the National Security Council under President Bill Clinton; former director of the Navy's post-9/11 anti-terrorism unit, "Deep Blue."
Yet when I ask if any big-name Democrat supports him, he says: "That's a great question . . . I can't think of anyone."
But that's exactly why he's running! There are a considerable number of Pennsylvania Democrats who resent the party bosses -- and that means Ed Rendell and even Barack Obama -- annointing someone who worked so hard to elect and re-elect George W. Bush and supported many of his disastrous programs as their hand-picked candidate and then working to prevent the democratic (small "d") exercise of a primary. So the lack of big-name Democrat support isn't so much a handicap, it's the whole rationale for his candidacy.
That said, there's no doubt that the election were held today that Specter would destroy Sestak -- based solely in Specter's huge edge in name ID. Sestak could undo that by spending a ton of money; the weird irony is that Boss Rendell and Co. will probably kibosh any Pa. donors, but Sestak could raise out-of-state dollars from liberals who want a "real Democrat" in the seat. Meanwhile, a lot could happen between now and May. Given the way that governors are falling from coast-to-coast, who even knows if Rendell will still be the guv in 2010?
Meanwhile, you have to be excited about the other ex-recent-military congressman from the Philly area:
PHILADELPHIA - U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy is coming to Philadelphia to kick off a campaign for a bill to repeal "don't ask, don't tell."
The Pennsylvania Democrat is the first Iraq war veteran elected to Congress. He will be joined on Monday by the gay rights groups Human Rights Campaign and Servicemembers United.
Murphy says it's insulting to America's armed forces to contend they'd suffer morale and recruiting problems if the U.S. had a serve-openly policy like in Britain's military.
I always thought, frankly, that it would be Murphy to be the next "real" Democratic senator from the Keystone State. I guess that could still be true, but just not in 2010 for whatever reason.