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Specter To Sestak: Imma Let You Finish ...
Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA)
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At a Pennsylvania Progressive forum this Saturday, Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA) and Rep. Joe Sestak (D-PA) were supposed to be doing separate Q&As, one after the other.
But Specter apparently jumped the gun and climbed onstage while Sestak was giving his closing remarks, and a moderator asked him to get off the stage.
Watch, care of PCN:
The two are fighting for the Democratic nomination for Specter's Senate seat.
Specter's campaign manager, Chris Nicholas, told TPM that Specter did not break any rules. Mike Morrill, the executive director of Keystone Progress, which sponsored the forum, said it was just a result of confusion about timing.
Sestak's campaign did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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concerned parent
February 1, 2010 12:43 PM
Wow, haven't heard that name in awhile. Poor Specter, will he pull a Lieberman if he loses the primary?
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musgrove
February 1, 2010 12:45 PM in reply to concerned parent
Iam more worried that Sestak would pull a Lieberman. I don't trust that guy.
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hunter
February 1, 2010 1:11 PM in reply to musgrove
Can't happen. State election law says if you register in a primary and lose you can't run in the general as an independent.
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Acewrap
February 1, 2010 1:21 PM in reply to musgrove
The impression that I got of Sestak when I met him during the campaign in 2008 was not that of a Lieberman.
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Walter Mitty
February 1, 2010 12:47 PM
I think there is a sore loser rule in Pennsylvania, meaning if you lose in a primary you can't run in the general as an independent.
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cole_dranx
February 1, 2010 1:03 PM in reply to Walter Mitty
Yeah, i think you're right.
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Viva!America!
February 1, 2010 1:31 PM
This is going to be an interesting primary.
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Reefdancer
February 1, 2010 1:34 PM
Maybe Specter is getting senile
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Msinformed
February 1, 2010 3:17 PM in reply to Reefdancer
Bingo.
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SqueakyRat
February 1, 2010 7:23 PM in reply to Reefdancer
In my day we put an onion in our belts to show we were done speaking. It was the style then.
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An Outhouse
February 1, 2010 1:35 PM
Somebody get Arlen a nice cup of warm milk.
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dougom
February 1, 2010 3:33 PM
He didn't break any rules; he just looked like an out-of-touch, senile old man.
You know, maybe if Specter had shown some backbone by voting in opposition to his Republican colleagues during the Bush years rather than simply bloviating about horrific Bush policies and then voting for them, he might have done his state and this country some good. As it is, he is nothing more than your typical political opportunist, filled with hot air and desperately trying to hold on to his job. The comparison to Lieberman is extremely apt.
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MichaelD
February 1, 2010 3:43 PM
Anyone here from PA? What are the chances that the voters there will trade in their old dog for one with new tricks? And will he be any better than the dog you've had all these years?
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standforworkersrights
February 1, 2010 4:01 PM in reply to MichaelD
I am from Pennsylvania and was there. It was my opinion that Specter had every right to do what he did. This was NOT a "senior moment", and any suggestion otherwise is ageism.
Sestak was eating up the Senator's time and no one was enforcing the 3-minute per question rule with Sestak. This was a televised event, and Specter was losing his time to Sestak. He made a very tactical (yes, risky) decision to go up on the stage, and then swooned the audience. He nailed every question, was tough, and admitted where he held opinions that might not be popular. By the end of the night I had heard from a lot of folks that switched from Sestak to Specter just from this one performance. Watch the whole tapes is my only advice.
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MichaelD
February 1, 2010 4:55 PM in reply to standforworkersrights
So you think Specter has a good chance of winning? I'm from Texas, so I have no right to say anything about any other state's senatorial choices, since ours are dreadful (and that's putting it mildly). I haven't forgotten nor forgiven Specter for his performance in Clarence Thomas' confirmation hearings, but I know next to nothing about Joe Sestak and was just wondering whether he stood a real chance against Arlen. Thanks for the info about the timing problems in the debate - that wasn't clear.
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ally
February 1, 2010 5:40 PM in reply to standforworkersrights
I heard differently from someone who was there. Specter's answers were more like Republican-lite talking points - and he did not connect with the audience.
The only Dems in PA who support Specter - are the DLC Dem Leadership Corporate Sell-outs - you know - Owned-by-Comcast types. Everyone else knows that Sestak will be a much better Senator for PA.
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dougom
February 1, 2010 6:35 PM in reply to standforworkersrights
I didn't say he was having a "senior moment;" I said what the perception was for someone watching that video raw, as it were. Perception. Politics is perception, nu?
You're a little too quick on the trigger with the "ageism" accusation," I think.
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ramboorider
February 1, 2010 7:30 PM in reply to MichaelD
I'm a Pennsylvanian and this will be my fourth Arlen campaign. Whether it was a senior moment or not, the combination of this and his recent comment to Bachman to "act like a lady" both LOOK bad for him. I don't think Sestak can beat him in the primary - Arlen's got the WHOLE Dem establishment backing him, including Obama. And he's got big money. But I'd bet Toomey wil beat him in November unless the economy turns around a lot faster than it looks like its going to. I think he rightly figured he had a better chance against Toomey in the general than in a Republican primary, but I don't think that better chance is a GOOD chance.
I'd rather have Sestak in the Senate and will probably vote for him in the primary. I suspect Sestak would also lose to Toomey, but I think he'd give him a better fight. Oh well, at least Toomey won't be as bad as Santorum was, at least on social issues.
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Sconan
February 2, 2010 4:41 PM
Don't forget Arlene is the creator of the infamous Magic Bullet theory as well...That in itself is enough in my book to keep him from being elected to even dog catcher!
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