Vote for Joe Sestak

It's time for Arlen Specter to go.

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Published: May 13, 2010

We sympathize with Arlen Specter. After 30 years of faithful service — of backing President Bush's Iraq war, of campaigning for Sarah Palin, of supporting Steve Forbes' flat tax, of going to the mat for Clarence Thomas — his increasingly right-wing Republican Party didn't want him anymore. Especially given that it was Specter's support for the stimulus bill that sealed his fate within the GOP. Since his conversion a year ago, Specter has been a good soldier for his new Democratic Party: defending his stimulus vote, advocating vigorously for the health care bill, pushing for gay rights. He's courted the party's progressive base well.

But it's not enough to earn our endorsement. Put simply, Specter's willingness to change his stripes so brazenly for the sake of his own political survival does not inspire a lot of faith in what he'd do after the primary. And Specter has proven himself all too willing to roll in the mud with his attacks on opponent Joe Sestak's Navy record. (Indeed, if the worst that Specter can come up with is that Sestak rode his subordinates too hard, we can live with that.)

We're not entirely smitten with Sestak. The retired Navy admiral certainly has the credentials and smarts — three decades in the uniform, master's and doctorate degrees from Harvard — to do the job, but we've been less than enthused with his campaign, which has, until the last few weeks, seemed a bit listless. His melodramatic intonation and speechifying is annoying, but in the grand scheme of things, a forgivable offense.

Sestak is the better Democrat. For the last four years, he's been a solid progressive voice in Congress, and his military and intelligence experience would serve the Senate well. He deserves your support on Tuesday.

(editorial@citypaper.net)

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