Free Republic

With their center’s collapse, Democrats’ only hope of reconstituting it is by redefining the center. As the Democratic primary race moves leftward, the definitions of their candidates are moving right. It resembles a play in which we are expected to accept that the same actors have become different characters simply because of a costume change. When the 2020 Democratic field was taking shape a year ago, its spread was straightforward. Former Vice President Joe Biden was the establishment anchor, in a center-left, front-runner position. A couple of candidates were to his right – Montana Gov. Steve Bullock and former Rep....

Former Pennsylvania Rep. Joe Sestak on Sunday ended his long-shot 2020 presidential bid after failing to gain traction in the race for the Democratic Party's nomination. "I want to thank you for the honor of running for President of the United States of America," Sestak said in a statement. "It has been an endeavor filled with immeasurable wisdom, passions, humor and insights to, and from, the people of America." Sestak, who mounted unsuccessful bids for US Senate in 2010 and 2016, entered an already-crowded Democratic primary field in June hoping to leverage his career in the US Navy into a...

On Friday, six Democratic presidential candidates spoke to a handful of people at the first-ever "Presidential Forum on Environmental Justice," held at South Carolina State University. More people probably would have attended the event if they knew what "environmental justice" means. According to a press release from the event organizers, the forum gave "candidates an opportunity to share their policies and visions for the country through an environmental justice lens, and moreover, connect and learn from voters of color whose issues are frequently overlooked. The forum will center the voices of marginalized communities to learn how presidential hopefuls intend to...

The already large field of Democratic presidential candidates has grown again: Joe Sestak, a former Pennsylvania congressman with an extensive military background, said Sunday that he plans to seek the presidency. “I’m Joe Sestak, and I wore the cloth of the nation for over 31 years in peace and war, from the Vietnam and Cold War eras to Afghanistan and Iraq and the emergence of China,” he said in a video announcing his candidacy. A retired three-star admiral, Sestak represented Pennsylvania’s 7th congressional district for two terms, from 2007 to 2011, and has mounted two unsuccessful runs for the US...

Before we get into the meat of this story from the National Journal, let me just note that this – “One of the most underappreciated stories in recent years is the deterioration of the Democratic bench under President Obama’s tenure in office” – has always been properly appreciated by me. I noticed this issue a while back. Sorry, but I felt the need to establish that. Moving on… …less attention has been paid to how the shrinking number of Democratic officeholders in the House and in statewide offices is affecting the party’s Senate races. It’s awfully unusual to see how...

It took Republicans three tries to win control of the US Senate and consolidate Congress under their leadership. In the end, the landscape left by the 2008 Democratic triumph left them uniquely vulnerable in the sixth-year midterm of an unpopular presidency. The tables will turn in 2016, warns National Journal’s Charlie Cook, as the gains of 2010 will make Republicans highly vulnerable to losing control of the Senate once again: Today, The Cook Political Report puts two Republican-held seats in the “Toss Up” category—the open seat in Florida and Kirk in Illinois. That toss-up column will certainly grow as...

Republicans are debating whether their path to the presidency in 2016 runs through the blue-collar Rust Belt states, or the demographically changing new South and Sunbelt states. For Democrats looking to retake the Senate, however, the formula is more clear-cut: Win back white working-class voters, or be consigned to a longer-term minority. Most of the Senate battlegrounds run through the Midwest—Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Ohio—along with New Hampshire, which carries demographic similarities with those older, whiter Great Lakes states. To defeat the vulnerable Republican incumbents, Democrats have a challenging task ahead: Making inroads with blue-collar voters, who have been stubbornly resistant...

The PowerPoint slides presented to House Republicans in January 2009 seemed incongruously optimistic at a time when the very word “hope” belonged to the newly ascendant Democrats and their incoming president, Barack Obama. “If the goal of the majority is to govern, what is the purpose of the minority?” one slide... --snip-- He said his team was thrilled when Mr. Sestak raised a public objection, arguing that, in fact, he voted with Ms. Pelosi 97 percent of the time. In a climate where Ms. Pelosi was toxic, “I was like, ‘Jackpot,’ ” Mr. Miller said. (Mr. Sestak lost in a...

Do you want Muslim Brotherhood operatives serving in the Congress? Sestak is in the pocket of Hamas-linked Muslim Brotherhood CAIR, and I have been reporting on this evil axis since 2007. He is lying about his ties to CAIR. What does that tell you? Art Moore over at WND: 2nd Sestak scandal days before election Unindicted terrorist co-conspirator leader claims to have hosted home fundraiser for Democrat Since his election to the House in 2006, Democratic Senate candidate Joe Sestak has fended off strong criticism of his relationship with the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a federally designated terrorist co-conspirator shown...

Pennsylvania Democratic Senate candidate Joe Sestak defends signing letter pushed by J Street calling for easing Gaza blockade. LOWER MERION TOWNSHIP – One day, months before the race to represent Pennsylvania in the US Senate entered the homestretch, Democratic candidate Joe Sestak arrived at his campaign office to find it practically empty. “Where is everybody?” Sestak told The Jerusalem Post he had asked at the time, only to be told it was Pessah. That’s how he found out that nearly half his staff was Jewish. But on Monday, the day before Americans finally head to the polls, Sestak’s headquarters in...

In his final push against Republican Pat Toomey in the Pennsylvania Senate race, an advertisement from Democratic Rep. Joe Sestak features a bag of feces collected from his family dog. Sestak swings the bag into the trash can, and equates it with the policies of his opponent. Toomey’s response to this ad is more moderated at a recent campaign event in Sewickley, Pennsylvania. With that advertisement as the baseline, though, it’s hard to think of a response that wouldn’t seem measured. “The DCC is spending more money attacking me with lies and dishonest ads than they have in any other...

New polling data indicates that Pennsylvania Republican Senate hopeful Pat Toomey has regained the lead he held for months, thanks largely to continued strength among independent voters. After Democratic Rep. Joe Sestak closed the gap recently to take a narrow lead in the competitive race, Toomey surged back ahead this week, according to the state’s two largest polling institutes. A Franklin & Marshall College survey released Wednesday morning showed Toomey leading by seven points among likely voters, 43 percent to 36 percent. That finding substantiated movement in the Muhlenberg College daily tracking poll, which swung 11 points in the span...

Pennsylvania’s competitive Senate race can be boiled down to a simple back-and-forth: You’re an extremist! No, you are! Those were the volleys traded once again by Democratic Rep. Joe Sestak and Republican nominee Pat Toomey Friday night, as the two used their second and final televised debate of the campaign to paint the other as out-of-step with mainstream Pennsylvanians. Sestak said Toomey is “on the fringe of his party.” Toomey said Sestak is “to the left” of Nancy Pelosi. In the end, each had landed some punches, but neither suffered anything like a knockout blow. “The only time Joe has...

The latest Rasmussen poll has Republican Pat Toomey up 48-44 percent over Congressman Joe Sestak in the race to replace Arlen Specter as senator from Pennsylvania. The poll taken Thursday night surveyed 750 likely voters and has a plus-minus of 4 percent. Seven percent of voters said they were undecided while 1 percent said they liked another candidate.

For those who are worried about Pat Toomey’s sudden slip in the polls in Pennsylvania — and I was among them — you’ll want to read this analysis from “Number Cruncher,” a finance/political junkie who spends even more time breaking down polls than I do. Your readers should calm down. This race isn’t that close, or even closing. The only thing closing is the pollsters’ prediction of who to consider a likely voter. Looking at the Quinnipiac results, I find them very encouraging for Toomey, specifically among Independents. Taking the Quinnipiac crosstabs and applying 2004, 2006, 2008, and my predicted...

Allentown – As expected, Congressman Sestak lobbed one dishonest attack after another in order to try to run away from his extreme record of voting for every single bailout, record-breaking debt, hundreds of billions of dollars in new tax increases, a cap-and-trade energy tax, and government-run health care. But the truth is catching up with him. FALSEHOOD: Pat Toomey voted for the largest deficits in history. TRUTH: Actually, Joe Sestak voted for the largest deficits in U.S. history. Over his four years in Congress, Joe Sestak voted for $3.3 trillion in new deficit spending. In contrast the cumulative budget deficit...

Strange things seem to be underfoot here in Pennsylvania. After a week of optimistic rhetoric from Joe Sestak’s campaign about “closing the gap” — according to internal polling — and generating enthusiasm to squelch Pat Toomey’s senate bid, a new Public Policy Polling survey seems to confirm their optimism. The PPP poll, out today, shows Joe Sestak leading Pat Toomey by one point. Leading, 46-45 percent, after months of running as many as ten points behind according to Rasmussen and others. This troubling news comes on the heels of optimistic talk from the AFL-CIO about the power of union members...

HARRISBURG, Pa. -- A new poll in Pennsylvania's hotly contested race for U.S. Senate shows that Democrat Joe Sestak has apparently wiped out Republican Pat Toomey's lead. The Muhlenberg (MYOO'-len-berg) College/Allentown Morning Call poll released Wednesday shows Sestak supported by 44 percent of likely voters to Toomey's 41 percent. The numbers include people who are leaning toward voting for a candidate but haven't entirely made up their minds. Fifteen percent remain undecided two weeks before the election. Independent polls in recent weeks showed Toomey with a slight lead. Toomey and Sestak are vying to replace five-term Sen. Arlen Specter, whom...

Sestak supposedly has closed the gap with Independents but I'll believe it when I see it on November 2nd publicpolicypolling: You can put Pennsylvania Senate back in the toss up category. Joe Sestak leads Pat Toomey 46-45 in our newest poll of the race, erasing the 9 point deficit he had in an August PPP survey. Toomey's support has remained stagnant over the last 2 months while Sestak's has gone up 10 points from 36% to 46%. There are three main factors driving the increased competitiveness of the race: -Democratic voters are getting more engaged as election day moves closer....

Pennsylvania Democrat Joe Sestak’s campaign has repeatedly referred to his Republican rival for the Senate as a “millionaire” to suggest his policies will serve the rich. But Sestak himself could be worth as much as $2.7 million, according to a report in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Sestak’s 2009 disclosure shows his retirement savings, bank accounts, and stock and mutual fund holdings are worth between $969,000 and $2,722,000. His two homes are appraised at $800,000 and $334,000. Toomey’s reported assets are worth between $2.02 million and $4.9 million.