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Jun 8, 2009 7:10 pm US/Eastern
Congressman Sestak To Take On Sen. Specter
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ―
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Congressman Joe Sestak (File)
Congressman Joe Sestak served 31 years in the U.S. Navy, serving in every war from Vietnam to Afghanistan.
Now he is going to engage in a political battle in Pennsylvania.
Sestak, a Democrat, will take on the state's newest Democrat, Republican-turned-Democrat Arlen Specter.
Senator Specter insists that he's now really a Democrat as he told state Democratic officials in Pittsburgh this weekend: "I'm again a Democrat, and I'm pleased and proud to be a Democrat."
Not so fast, says Congressman Sestak from suburban Philadelphia.
Sestak, a graduate of the Naval Academy in Annapolis, rose to the rank of a three-star admiral before retiring and running for Congress in 2006.
Now he expects to challenge Specter in the Democratic primary next May, and he criticized the incumbent for his support of Republican policies.
"He has voted four out of five times with President Bush," Sestak told KDKA Political Editor Jon Delano in a sit-down interview.
Sestak says he and other veterans did not fight to have Washington politicians impose a senator on Pennsylvania.
"For the Democratic leadership of Washington, DC to reach across to the GOP for someone who's been in politics for five decades as a Republican and say, 'Here's your future' - it doesn't seem to compute."
Sestak says the election is about the future on issues like health care for all and affordable college education where, he says, Specter has failed.
"Arlen, I respect your service, but the future is different. Change means change. It means changing on the issues that he hasn't been present on," he said.
And Sestak says Specter may talk like a Democrat for the coming election, but what is needed is a real Democrat.
"It should be someone who has and consistently has been there and can be relied upon not to be a flight risk after this election."
Delano: "You think if Senator Specter wins reelection, he'll go back to what you say are his Republican ways?"
Sestak: "There's grave concern over that. He's left one party and come over. But why not do it years ago, and not just before an election?"
Sestak knows it's an uphill battle but he's raising money -- over $3.5 million right now -- and some polls show him within single digits of Specter, once people know more about him.
But Specter has President Obama, Vice President Biden, and Governor Rendell on his side.
Sestak says he won't drop out even if the president asked him to because Pennsylvania Democrats deserve a choice.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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