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LEFTOVERS: Specter calls flip-flop, Schenker wants a convention & another candidate in PA-8

Senator Arlen Specter is calling primary opponent Joe Sestak’s distaste over a timetable for withdrawal from Afghanistan a flip-flop from his 2006 campaign, when he fiercely advocated for timetables in Iraq.

“Of course, Sestak only supported an Iraq timetable when he was a candidate,” Specter’s campaign manager Christopher Nicholas said in a statement Wednesday. “Once elected, he voted to fund the Iraq war without a timetable, and now he wants the same kind of open-ended escalating conflict in Afghanistan. This is another flip flop from Joe Sestak. He owes voters an explanation why he believes timetables were right for the Iraq war but are now bad for Afghanistan.”

I see what they’re saying here, and the fact that Sestak voted to continue funding the Iraq effort without a timetable has been well-documented. But if there’s one thing almost every expert has cautioned, it’s that parallels between the two war theaters should not be drawn casually. It’s fair to debate Sestak’s stance, but calling this a “clear flip flop” seems a bit of a stretch. This is a different war.

Meanwhile, reform darling and Lieutenant Governor candidate Rick Schenker called for a constitutional convention Wednesday. Calling it a “last resort” on his blog, he said that “Pennsylvania government is so wildly corrupt that I must support a constitutional convention.”

And lastly, there’s another Republican seeking to take on Congressman Patrick Murphy (D-8) next year. Rob Mitchell, a small business owner from Doylestown, declared his candidacy Tuesday. He told The Bucks County Courier Times that the government’s reaction to the tea party movement helped prompt him to run. Here’s his campaign Web site.

December 2, 2009 at 11:03 pm

--Dan Hirschhorn

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