Big News: Joe Sestak Drops Out!

[Bleacher Creature]

Bigger news: Joe Sestak was running for the Democratic nomination in the first place!!!

[helpisontheway]

1. I was like who is that..lol He could have dropped out and we would not have missed him. lol Nt

[ritapria]

2. There are a lot of candidates who refuse to take the hint

that no one is interested in them ….John Delaney ...Those John Delaney campaign staff meetings must be quite something else …………."Things are looking up , boss ...11 people showed up today for your rally in Dubuque "

[StevieM]

9. Sometimes a candidate just wants to go out on the campaign trail and say what they think.

Delaney will probably drop out after New Hampshire. Same goes for Amy Klobuchar, Andrew Yang and Deval Patrick.

Others, like Kamala Harris and Marianne Williamson, will probably exit after the Iowa Caucuses.

Finally, there are a few more candidate who will probably drop out before the voting begins, especially if they are dropped from the debate stage. The candidates I am thinking of are Corey Booker, Julian Castro, Michael Bennet and Steve Bullock.

[SCantiGOP]

15. I had a college professor who ran twice

Ran for Dem nomination for President in 1980 and 84.
He had no pretensions about competing, but wanted to promote his idea that we needed to transition to a parliamentary system. It got him guest editorials in a lot of papers across the country, including one in the Washington Post.
He had some good reasons to consider the move. He said the “imperial Presidency” (a term that emerged during the Nixon era), and the electoral college set up the possibility of a populist candidate seizing power. Sound familiar?

[Sloumeau]

3. If someone does not have enough support to make the debate stage, they do not have enough support...

to win the nomination. Joe Sestak made the wise move.

[George II]

4. Damn, I just sent him a dime!!

[Wounded Bear]

14. Did you tell him to call someone who cared about his candidacy...

Old timers will get it.

[efhmc]

5. I have no idea who he is or that he was running for pres.

But I admire anyone who thinks shim can contribute something to our country and gives it a try.

[philly_bob]

6. I'm from Sestak's territory, and he's an admirable person.

I wish he'd gotten on to the debate stage. Short version: he was captain of an aircraft carrier, and when he came back did a walking tour. Keep an eye open for him. And next time he comes up in Democratic politics, give him a hearing.

[peggysue2]

7. Didn't Sestak run for a Senate seat?

I remember him running in the past. Always thought his resume was impressive.

[MBS]

10. That's correct.

He does have an impressive resume, and I was really happy when he won his congressional seat. He seems to have lost the thread though, lately, not sure why. I do know that his Senate run against Arlen Specter antagonized the PA Democratic Party - a factor that maybe kind of isolated him politically??

[Celerity]

11. yes, and he had problems from the DNC and Obama, who wanted him to stand down versus Specter

White House admits effort to keep Sestak out of Senate race

https://edition.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/05/28/sestak.obama.senate/index.html


2010 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_United_States_Senate_election_in_Pennsylvania#Democratic_primary

The Democratic party race between Specter and Sestak was considered one of the bitterest and most watched of all the 2010 primary elections. On April 28, 2009, Specter switched to the Democratic Party after having served in the Senate as a Republican for 28 years. Although Specter claimed he switched largely because he disagreed with the increasingly conservative direction the Republican party was heading in, he also admitted the switch was due to his poor chances of winning a Republican primary against Toomey due to Specter's support of President Barack Obama's economic stimulus plan. Before the switch, the Democratic establishment had encouraged Sestak to run in the Democratic primary, but after Specter switched parties he was largely embraced by such major Democratic figures as Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell. The same Democratic establishment that initially urged Sestak to run now feared he would harm Specter's chances in the general election and encouraged him to drop out, but Sestak refused and strongly criticized Specter's party switch as an opportunistic move aimed solely at political self-preservation.

Specter led Sestak by more than 20 percentage points for most of the race and, while Sestak struggled to overcome problems from his low name recognition, Specter received endorsements from major Democratic figures and influential organizations like the AFL-CIO and Pennsylvania Democratic Committee. Specter's lead narrowed significantly in the final month of the campaign, when Sestak concentrated his funds and efforts on television commercials that questioned Specter's Democratic credentials. As the race progressed, Specter grew more strongly critical of Sestak, attacking his House attendance record, accusing Sestak of failing to pay his staffers minimum wage, and claiming Sestak was demoted in the Navy for creating a "poor command climate".

On May 18, Sestak ended Specter's nearly 30-year Senate career by earning 53.8 percent of the primary vote, to Specter's 46.2 percent. Political observers said the commercials played a major part in Sestak's victory, and that a national swing in momentum toward Republicans and against incumbents ultimately harmed Specter's chances. During the primary campaign, it was revealed that former President Bill Clinton had offered Sestak a position in the Obama administration if he withdrew his candidacy. This drew allegations from Republicans that the administration violated federal statutes forbidding government employees from interfering with a Senate election, but no formal investigation was ever held.

snip



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Sestak#Democratic_opposition

Democratic opposition

Throughout the primary election the Obama administration and the Democratic Party campaigned heavily against Sestak, as the President, Vice President, and numerous cabinet members and Senators hosted many fundraisers and events for Specter. On September 19, 2009, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid even shut down the entire United States Senate, as he, the President, and many Senators instead flew to Philadelphia to host a prominent fundraiser for Specter. The event drew controversy for closing federal business and because the money raised during the event would be given to Republicans and conservative PACs that asked for refunds of contributions given before Specter's party switch. Obama's presidential campaign, called "Organizing for America" during the off years, also led efforts against Sestak. Even the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) decided to spend the maximum "coordinated funds" for Specter, which differ from most party spending in that the committee can use the money to work with the candidate and supplement his or her ad buys.

Job offer to Sestak

In a February 2010 interview Sestak responded affirmatively when asked if the Obama administration had offered him a "federal job" if he would end his candidacy for the Senate. Sestak stated that he had quickly refused the offer. When asked to give the specifics of the offer on Midweek Politics with David Pakman, he refused. The White House initially "vociferously" denied that an offer had been made, and Sestak continued to offer no further details until the Obama administration released White House Counsel Robert F. Bauer's official report on the incident on May 28, clarifying that White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel enlisted former President Bill Clinton to approach Sestak about potential, uncompensated executive branch positions on senior advisory boards and stating Bauer's official opinion that nothing inappropriate, illegal or unethical had taken place. The official report also stated that Clinton had made the offer on behalf of the Obama administration. After the report's release, Sestak issued a statement essentially confirming it.

snip

General election

snip

The total spent on the race was $20 million, the most of any federal election in 2010. After Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission was decided, conservative Political Action Committees and corporations broke the record for outside spending, airing ads on Toomey's behalf and causing Sestak to be outspent 3 to 1. Sestak received little help from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), which had spent significantly to assist Specter in the primary. The gap between pro-Toomey and pro-Sestak ads was the largest of any Senate race in the nation. Sestak responded to this outside spending at Philadelphia Constitution Hall, arguing, "It is we, the people. Not we, the corporations, nor we, Wall Street." Despite the funding gap, Sestak outperformed Pennsylvania's Democratic gubernatorial nominee, who lost by 9%, as well as the four Democratic Representatives who lost reelection by broad margins (Patrick Murphy by 7%, Paul Kanjorski by 9%, Kathy Dahlkemper by 11%, and Chris Carney by 10%).

Sestak returned to each of Pennsylvania's 67 counties to thank his supporters,[110][111][112] including numerous African American churches, synagogues, and mosques that had welcomed him.

snip


he lost by only a small margin, if they had helped him more, he probably would have won






they fought against him in 2016 too

https://www.politico.com/story/2016/04/sestak-pa-primary-221644

DREXEL HILL, Pa. — There’s no ideological civil war underway here. No, this is all personal — just former Navy Adm. Joe Sestak making his last stand against Democratic Party leaders who’ve been trying to sink him for six years and counting. On paper, Sestak is about everything Democrats could want in a Senate candidate: a charismatic, decorated veteran elected to the House from a swing district who nearly defeated Republican Pat Toomey in 2010, one of the toughest election years for Democrats in decades.

But the independent streak that attracts voters is precisely what worries national Democrats so much about Sestak: They believe, for the second time since 2010, that he could blow a winnable Senate race because of his tendency to reject the slightest hint of marching orders from party bosses. Sestak is the first to admit he likes doing things his way, and party leaders quickly tired of constantly being told, in so many words, to take a hike.

In response, the whole D.C. Democratic gang is all-in for Sestak’s main Democratic rival, Katie McGinty — from Barack Obama and Joe Biden to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.). More than that, the national party is dropping more than $1 million to push McGinty past Sestak — a rare move by Democrats in a Senate primary that reflects their level of disdain for him.

Indeed, the infighting here threatens to do significant harm to Democrats’ hopes in the general election in Pennsylvania, a state that’s essentially a must-win for the party’s hopes of wresting the Senate from Republicans.

“It’s a disgrace,” fumes David Landau, chairman of the Delaware County Democratic Party, which is hosting Sestak on this warm April night. “It’s personal. They don’t like him. Joe’s quirky sometimes. He’s independent. He’s not going to always do what the leadership tells him to do.”

snip

[Karadeniz]

8. Well I feel stupid.

[bottomofthehill]

12. Wow, where will his supporter go

That vote may be the one that puts someone over the top

[jayschool2013]

13. Damn. He stole my thunder.

I guess I'll wait til tomorrow to announce I'm not continuing (or starting) my bid to be president.

[LovingA2andMI]

16. Who??

[Gothmog]

17. Here is his statement

Link to tweet

[malachi]

19. Laugh all you want, dick. Joe Sestak is a good and honorable person. Based on your post, I'd say

that he's a much better person than you'll ever be. Are you sure that you're a Democrat?

[bucolic_frolic]

21. +100x ...

[MustLoveBeagles]

24. I agree with you

Joe's a good man. It just wasn't his time. I'm a little embarrassed that I got him confused with Steyer in my now deleted post. I think the OP is childish, but calling them a dick and questioning whether they're a Democrat is a bit harsh. I can understand the annoyance though. When Beto dropped out I didn't enjoy the grave dancing either.

[bucolic_frolic]

20. I think his candidacy this year is a way to stay relevant to challenge Toomey in 2022

Joe Sestak would have made a great Senator when he ran

[H2O Man]

23. +1

[H2O Man]

22. Recommended.

His campaign certainly didn't catch on fire, but I respect anyone who enters a Democratic Party primary race for president. More, I think of Sestak as a very decent man, who was fairly good in the House during President Obama's first term. He didn't win when he ran for a Senate seat, though.