TPMDC

Sestak On MSNBC: Did I Mention Arlen Specter Supported Bush?

Rep. Joe Sestak (D-PA)

Rep. Joe Sestak (D-PA) took his turn on MSNBC moments after Andrea Mitchell interviewed Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA) today, and took the opportunity — again and again — to try and link Specter with former President George W. Bush.

“I’m a Democrat out of core beliefs and core convictions,” Sestak said, adding that Specter voted with Democrats only 23 percent of the time during Bush’s presidency.

“I wish he had stood tall against George Bush much more often than 23 percent of the time.”

Sestak did give a bit of ground on whether he’d support Specter should the incumbent win today’s Democratic Senate primary in Pennsylvania.

“Ive told everybody that I will do anything, legally or morally, that’s right, anything to beat Pat Toomey,” Sestak said, referring to the likely Republican candidate.

And what about referring to Specter as a “dead man walking” — which many saw as a low blow knocking Specter’s health and age.

“I very much said it in the context of he will take the Democratic ticket down,” Sestak said, adding that he’s “run a very positive campaign.”

The TPM Poll Average for today’s Democratic Senate primary in Pennsylvania shows Sestak leading Specter 45.6% to 42.6%.

Arlen Specter, Joe Sestak, PA-SEN

Editor & Publisher

Josh Marshall

Managing Editor

David Kurtz

Senior Associate Editor

Paul Werdel

Associate Editor

Sara Libby

Assistant Editor

Igor Bobic

Reporters

Brian Beutler

Carl Franzen

Sahil Kapur

Eric Kleefeld

Eric Lach

Nick Martin

Evan McMorris-Santoro

Ryan J. Reilly

Benjy Sarlin

Front Page Editor

David Taintor

Poll Editor

Kyle Leighton

News Writer

Pema Levy

Video Editor

Michael Lester

Polling Fellow

Tom Kludt

Video Fellow

Clayton Ashley

Publishing Fellow

Christopher O’Driscoll

Research Interns

Michael Brooks

Publishing Intern

Miles Read

General Manager & General Counsel

Millet Israeli

VP, Ad Sales

Mary Cadwallader

Bob Edmunds

Bruce Ellerstein

Waldo Tibbetts

Manager, Ad Operations and Sales Support

Versha Sharma

Deputy Publisher

Callie Schweitzer

Director of Technology

Eric Buth

Designer/Developer

Ni Mu

Matthew Wozniak

Tech Fellow

Dennis Cahillane