Go Arlen. Yes luckily both Specter and Sestak are for the public option. Specter even had advocated that single payer should be on the table. Now, hopefully Sestak will head back to fend off Meehan, who is a powerful challenger for the PA-7 seat.

WestPADem-
I talked to some people in the local leadership this weekend. They are convinced that Sestak will not pull out, regardless of any poll. Sestak could be behind 60-20 with 20% undecided in Feb/Mar and he’s not going to jump back into the Congressional race.
It’s been obvious since the summer of 2007 that Sestak doesn’t particularly like being a Congressman (i.e. having his “judgment” questioned by his constituents and the constant fundraising). He hitched his wagon to Hillary, so an escape into the world of appointments evaporated when she lost the Primary. He needed to run for congress to raise that extra $3 million he didn’t intend to spend, for his Senate bid.

So, there is little chance that Sestak will help fend of Meehan, either by running or by just being a good Dem and actually helping another Dem candidate.
Once Joe loses the primary, it will free up his volunteers to help the Congressional candidate.

How can ANYONE support Arlen Specter????
10 years ago, the guys stands on the floor of the U.S. Senate and blasts Hillycare with his chart that was the death knell for the Dems dream plan. He actually said the public option would destroy American health care, its socialism and we must never have it! Now, because own political survival depends on it, he is all for the public option. People like DIano who support these janu-faced pols deserve whatever form of government they get.

The Hillary proposal was overreaching and poorly thought out. It did not have the support of congress, and it was drafted with insufficient input. Because Hillary mishandled the issue by trying to ram it through, she set back progress on this issue and helped the Republicans gain control of congress. Had Hillary been elected instead of Obama, we wouldn’t be this close to passing reform.
The situation is a lot different than 15 years ago, as is the Democrat’s plan, and Obama’s resolve. Also, given Specter’s own health issues in the interim, his change of perspective is not that surprising.

Specter supported the stimulus package. He’s fought for stem cell research. He’s more of a Dem than Ben Nelson.

Besides, Sestak would have to lose some extra faces, just to reduce to two-faced.

Dude, you aren’t drinking the koolaid, your’re bathing in it! “Hillary tried to ram it through.” Headlines said the same of Obama, after Reid and Pelosi said we’ll move it before Sept without GOP votes or input if we have to. ObamaCare isn’t overreaching and poorly thought out? Have you seen the CBO estimates on the cost? Single-payer isn’t overreaching? Mandating coverage and imposing fines is not overreaching? You keep drinking that koolaid son.

Sellout-
Read and learn:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clinton_health_care_plan_of_1993

Strike 1: Controversy about Hillary
“The First Lady’s role in the secret proceedings of the Health Care Task Force also sparked litigation in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, in relation to the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) which requires openness in government.”
Even though Hillary prevailed, it was a narrow ruling.
“In 1993, the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, along with several other groups, filed a lawsuit against Hillary Clinton and Donna Shalala‎ over closed-door meetings related to the health care plan.” They won, then lost on appeal.

Hillary admitted:
‘Again in 2007, she reflected on her role in 1993-1994: “I think that both the process and the plan were flawed. We were trying to do something that was very hard to do, and we made a lot of mistakes.”‘

Strike 2: Republican and Industry opposition
“Opposition to the Clinton plan was initiated by William Kristol and his policy group Project for the Republican Future, which is widely credited with orchestrating the plan’s ultimate defeat through a series of now legendary “policy memos” faxed to Republican leaders. Conservatives, libertarians, and the health insurance industry proceeded to campaign against the plan, criticizing it as being overly bureaucratic and restrictive of patient choice”

Strike 3: The Dems weren’t behind the plan
“U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan qualified his agreement that “there is no health care crisis” by stating “there is an insurance crisis” but also indicated “anyone who thinks [the Clinton health care plan] can work in the real world as presently written isn’t living in it.”[23] Meanwhile, Democrats, instead of uniting behind the President’s original proposal, offered a number of competing plans of their own. Some criticized the plan from the left, preferring a Canadian-style single payer system. In August 1994, Democratic Senate Majority Leader George J. Mitchell introduced a compromise proposal that would have delayed requirements of employers until 2002, and exempted small businesses. However, “even with Mitchell’s bill, there were not enough Democratic Senators behind a single proposal to pass a bill, let alone stop a filibuster.” ”

NOWHERE in the article is Specter even mentioned.