Former Republican's Party Switch Fails; Voters Choose Sestak
POSTED: 10:50 pm EDT May 18, 2010
UPDATED: 7:26 am EDT May 19, 2010
The Pittsburgh Channel.com
PHILADELPHIA -- U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter on Tuesday was defeated in a Democratic primary in his bid for a sixth term after taking the risky step of switching from the GOP.
Voters picked U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak as the party's nominee and rejected the 80-year-old Specter in his first Democratic campaign since his Republican Party defection.
With 99 percent of precincts reporting, Sestak had 54 percent and Specter had about 46 percent.
Amid shouts of "Joe! Joe!" Joe!" Sestak took the podium at a suburban Philadelphia military academy and told supporters that the tough economic times call for a public servant, not a politician.
"This is what Democracy looks like," he yelled. "A win for the people over the establishment, over the status quo, even over Washington, D.C."
Sestak said Specter leaves with "a legacy to be proud of."
"We've disagreed about a number of things, but we're Americans. He [Specter] has done good things for Pennsylvania, especially in his champion of funding for the National Institutes of Health. There are Americans who are alive today who would not have survived if it were not for Arlen Specter," Sestak said.
The vote also was a defeat for President Barack Obama, who supported Specter when he abandoned the Republican Party last year. In speaking to supporters at a downtown Philadelphia hotel after the race was called, Specter thanked Obama for his support.
Specter said he had called Sestak to congratulate him and tell him, "I think it's vital to keep this seat in the Democratic Party and I will support him."
"It's been a great privilege to serve the people of Pennsylvania," Specter said during his concession speech. "And it's been a great privilege to be in the United States senate and I'll be working very, very hard for the people of the commonwealth in the coming months."
Specter left while holding hands with his wife, Joan. He didn't answer questions from reporters.
NOTE:
It is way past time that Arlen Specter who knowingly cooperated in the cover-up of the JFK Assassination conspiracy by postulating the "Magic Bullet Theory" (despite available evidence at the time which contradicted it) had his career as a United States Senator ended.
His role in the Kennedy Assassination cover-up was morally reprehensible and should serve to bring him unending shame and opprobrium. In the interest of justice, he should confess his duplicitous role publicly before he dies in an attempt to help set the historical record straight.
--Dr. J. P. Hubert
