Dems seek an alternative to Sestak for next year's Senate race against Toomey

[JPZenger]

http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/meet-the-democratic-senate-candidate-who-drives-democrats-crazy-20150219

You can argue whether this is good or bad, but Sestak is not liked by many Democratic party insiders. He is criticized for being too independent, among other complaints. He narrowly lost to Toomey in the last Senate race and intends to run again next year.

http://www.politicspa.com/pa-sen-democrats-search-for-alternatives-to-sestak/63930/

There is one qualified name I have not yet heard mentioned - Former Congressman and Iraq War vet Patrick Murphy. He ran a statewide race against Kane for the AG primary, has name recognition in the important Phila. suburbs, and appears on MSNBC. Murphy was quoted as saying that he expects Sestak to be the Dem nominee. They served in the House together.

A number of candidates have pulled their names out of consideration, including Alysson Schwartz and Congressman Cartwright. According to the articles, Josh Shapiro had considered running, but instead may run for Attorney General. Former Congressman Chris Carney wants to run, but many Dems feel he is too conservative. Senator Hughes of Phila. and Phila. DA Williams also have discussed running.

[JPZenger]

1. Patrick Murphy's bio

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Murphy_%28Pennsylvania_politician%29

He is a regular contributor on MSNBC.

[femmocrat]

2. I like Sestak and think he has a good chance.

Patrick Murphy would be fine, too. Either one could knock out Toomey if Hillary runs and wins PA. Toomey has been the invisible senator for 6 years.

[rpannier]

7. He also narrowly lost in a year that dullard got elected governor

This time around it will be a national election year
I think Sestak would win, probably by 5 or 6 points

[Curmudgeoness]

3. "Sestak is not liked" by insiders....

Too independent! What a shame! Sestak is a fine man. I still can't believe that Toomey beat him, but this time, we have a lot of evidence about how bad Toomey has been for PA.

[JPZenger]

4. Sestak has great experience and is a very active campaigner

Sestak has a great level of experience (working in the Clinton White House, commanding a carrier battle group, and serving in the US House) and he is a very energetic and hard working campaigner. He also is well known in the Phila. suburbs, which is the biggest swing area in the state.

It is hard to portray a retired admiral one of them damn liberals.

I don't want a divisive primary, but it is valuable to give voters a choice. A contested primary can attract public attention to the issues, obtain lots of free media, and provide a backup candidate in case a candidate says or does something that turns off voters. Let's be glad McCord wasn't running in an uncontested primary for PA. Governor.

[Curmudgeoness]

5. Very good point

about having a contested primary. I just hope it isn't too contested.

Sometimes, we Democrats are too nice. I was shocked at how the Republicans were able to smear a man like Sestak with nothing. They did portray him as weak and liberal. I am ready to fight fire with fire against their tactics.

[Divernan]

9. If Sestak & Murphy agree on the issues, there's no meaningful choice offered.

Toomey will have major financial backing from the GOP and no serious challenger in the primary, so he'll have all his funding to use in the general election. It's self-destructive for the Dems to spend significant funds on a primary battle between two good candidates, in addition to giving the GOP candidate sound bites to quote in the general election.

[JPZenger]

6. It is hard for a Phila. Politician to win statewide

The main alternatives that are being talked about to Sestak are Philadelphia politicians. It is hard for a Philadelphia politician to win a statewide race. Yes, Rendell won. However, he mainly won because he was so popular in the counties AROUND Philadelphia. Those suburbanites felt that Rendell had returned the City on the right track, after so many Phila politicians had screwed it up.

Rendell won a contested primary, with almost all of the unions supporting Casey, his primary opponent. In many regards, Rendell was similar to Wolf, who won despite the fact that most of the unions and many of the party bosses were supporting McCord. Wolf and Rendell both had strong cross-over appeal to swing suburban voters. Corbett actually ran ads comparing Wolf to Rendell, despite the fact that Rendell had won re-election in a landslide.

The Dems will almost always lose the rural vote in PA. There isn't much value in trying to appeal to them with a statewide candidate such as Carney.

[Number9Dream]

8. IMHO I thought Admiral Sestak was an excellent candidate

It seemed to me that Sestak ran a great campaign. He frequently compared his background as a Naval Admiral versus the Wall St. banker, Toomey. He highlighted Toomey's ties to China, and his far-right agenda. I think Toomey squeaked by because of his "A" rating from the NRA, who contributed about $2 million to his campaign. Toomey outspent Sestak by a wide margin. The influence of the NRA in PA is often underestimated. Now, Toomey has angered the NRA with his even lukewarm support of background checks. They might not contribute so much this time.

Mr. Sestak's campaign organization was surprisingly accessible. I had a member of his staff communicate with me via e-mail several times. He expressed much interest in Democratic Underground.

Patrick Murphy sounds like a fine candidate as well. I don't know how much name recognition he might have throughout PA.

"Democratic party insiders" haven't impressed me in any way. It seems that one of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party's biggest problems is coming up with candidates. My Republican Congressman, Charlie Dent, ran unopposed. Not easy to get Democratic voters to the polls when there's no Democrat to vote for.