Maybe No Free Ride for Specter

For a while, it looked like such a perfect deal: Arlen Specter quits the Republican Party, re-registers as a Democrat. And, in return, President Obama, Vice President Biden and Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell all endorse him in next year’s Democratic primary.

Neat. Tidy. End of story. Right?

Not so fast. Now, as he told me Thursday on my radio show, Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Pa.) is saying: “Hey, wait a minute! I’m a Democrat. I was planning to run for that Senate seat. And I still might.” The free ride for Specter may not happen after all.

There are two issues that must be decided first, says Sestak.

One. Everybody knows what Specter wants: six more years. But what does Specter stand for? Will he embrace those issues important to Pennsylvania Democrats — on Iraq, on choice, on the environment, on healthcare, on taxes, on card-check — or will he continue to vote as a Republican?

Two. Who gets to decide who’s best for Pennsylvania? Is that a choice voters of Pennsylvania will make? Or is that a choice forced on them by the powerful Washington political establishment?

Clearly, if Sestak does decide to challenge Specter, he has an uphill and probably impossible battle. But he’s raising questions that will resonate with fiercely independent Pennsylvania voters.

If Specter, as he insists, is not going to be a rubber stamp for Obama, then Pennsylvania Democrats should not be a rubber stamp for Specter. Let’s have a healthy, wide-open primary — and let the voters decide.

Visit Mr. Press’s website at billpressshow.com.