The Playoffs
When most people think of sports, they think of baseball, football, basketball, tennis, etc. But my sport of choice has always been politics and if politics is a sport, then tomorrow’s the playoffs.
Because I won the election for minority election inspector by one vote, I have to sit at the polling station from 6am to 9pm tomorrow. So there will be no daily blog tomorrow.
This year is a big primary year for me in my area of the nation. The biggest race going on is between recent Democrat Arlen Specter and my current congressman Joe Sestak. When I went to DC to lobby against the Broadcast Decency Bill a number of years ago, I got to meet with Specter’s legislative aids and talk to his staff. I really like Specter (even when he was Republican) and I really think he should be rewarded for switching sides to send a message to other Republicans who might be thinking the same thing. On the other hand, I have met Sestak a few times now and while I think he is a little bit of a dick in person, I think he will play less politics and vote for the progressive values that I support more genuinely and without having his arm twisted to do it. So I am supporting Sestak in that race, but if my horse loses, it isn’t a big deal.
There is also a much contested Governor primary going on. I think there are at least four Democratic candidates running. There is the guy with the money, the guy that everyone likes personally, the Al Sharpton candidate, and the strong progressive. As it turns out, the strong progressive candidate is actually someone I am friendly with and who was a guest on my radio show back in the day. He is also the candidate who probably has the least chance of winning tomorrow. Still, I strongly support Joe Hoeffel and if any of you are in Pennsylvania, you should vote for him too. My prediction is that money will win the day and Dan Onorato will be the candidate.
Since congressman Sestak is running for Senate, his congressional seat is up for grabs. There are I think three Democrats running for that spot, but two of them have no chance at all. Bryan Lentz pretty much has the lock in that primary race. I met Bryan a while back and he seems like a good guy. The real question is; can he win in the general election.
I think these primary races are important to the whole nation. The Senate race is of course important because it is he Senate. The Governor primary race is important because it tells us how politics works. Does money really trump everything? We’ll find out.
Filed under: Political Activism, Politics
