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Candidates court DelCo Dems

MEDIA—Candidates for Governor, Senate and Congress took turns addressing Delaware County Democrats here Sunday night, appearing in a crowded forum that brought Congressman Joe Sestak (D-7) back to his home turf.

A day after he and Senator Arlen Specter both made their cases to liberal activists in Harrisburg, Sestak was back in his district talking up his anti-establishment message.

“We’re not Rendell-ites or Biden-ites,” Sestak said, referring to Specter’s support from the governor and the vice president. “We’re a party of principle … not political calculation.”

The fate of Sestak’s primary bid hinges in part on his ability to court local supporters into building a statewide organization to run against Specter’s more well-funded campaign. To that end, his is quick to remind voters and party insiders alike that a body of polling data has shown less than a third of voters thinking Specter deserves reelection.

“We didn’t win the White House through deal-making,” Sestak said during the forum at the Rose Tree Fire Company, sponsored by the Mid-County Democratic Committee. “We won it through audacity.”

Gubernatorial candidates Joe Hoeffel and Chris Doherty also addressed the crowd, marking the third time in as many days that the Democratic rivals shared a room. Hoeffel emphasized his political history in southeastern Pennsylvania, while Doherty continued to play up the revitalization of Scranton under his watch.

The party’s candidates in the 7th Congressional District—state Representative Bryan Lentz (D-Delaware), environmental lawyer Gail Conner and political consultant E. Teresa Touey—also took turns courting local Democrats.

February 1, 2010 at 2:25 pm

--Donald Hoegg

Tags: Arlen Specter, Bryan Lentz, Chris Doherty, E. Teresa Touey, Gail Conner, Joe Hoeffel, Joe Sestak, PA-7

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