Michael Barley's Blog

The PA GOP Pulse

Sestak run will drive Specter further to the left

Congressman Joe Sestak’s (D-7) likely entry into the Senate race will certainly pose a threat to incumbent Senator Arlen Specter’s chances in the Democratic primary in 2010. In order to win, Sestak will run an aggressive campaign in southeastern Pennsylvania with an agenda built upon far leftist positions in the hopes that Democrats will reject Specter and his history of political opportunism at the expense of Pennsylvanians. Sestak will be able to talk at great length about how Senator Specter’s Democratic credentials don’t measure up, an argument that will hold some water when Sestak highlights the fact Specter’s vocal support of many aspects of former President George W. Bush’s agenda over the last decade.

The debate that will take place during the Democrat primary next year will be a good thing for the Republican Party’s candidate. In addition to watching Senator Specter’s campaign war chest grow smaller, Pennsylvanians will watch as the self-described moderate senator talks about his support for a radical leftist agenda while moving farther and farther away from the middle.

Democrats are left with a choice. Do they support the liberal Sestak, whose far-left agenda is what Washington Democrats have been longing for with Specter? Or do they back flip-flopping Specter himself, the political opportunist who President Obama and Gov. Ed Rendell anointed in a backroom deal?

A potential Senate run by Sestak will also have an effect on the race for the 7th Congressional District. If the seat does become open, I am confident that you will see even more attention paid to this race as our Party’s opportunities grow better and better.