Victoria Brownworth

One thing I dislike about the blogosphere–left, center and right–is that people tend to write about things they know nothing about. An opinion is not a fact. Never was, never will be. The case of Joe Sestak v. Barack Obama is a clear case in point.

The so-called left blogosphere has been a big supporter of Joe Sestak, the Democratic candidate for Senate in Pennsylvania. (I say so-called left, because most never seem to get on Obama for all the things he does that when Bush did them, brought about screaming, recriminations, much gnashing of teeth and cries that it was the End of Democracy as We Know It. Now? Still torturing–oh well. Not our problem, since a Democrat is doing it.)

Why was the center left for Sestak? Because he wasn’t Arlen Specter, the incumbent senator who was a life-long Republican who turned Democrat a year before the primary.

No left-leaning Pennsylvanian was pro-Specter in their hearts, even though 47.5 percent of us voted for him in the primary. Those who voted for Specter just disliked Sestak more and we already knew who Specter was. And Specter was almost always good for Pennsylvania. 

That said, Sestak is the candidate now. So why is he trying to blow up his candidacy? Why is he fingering the President–who’s in his own party–as a behind-the-scenes demagogue who lies to the press and does shady quid pro quo deals?

Those of us who have watched and written about Sestak from home base for several years are pretty sure why–because the guy really doesn’t know what he’s doing. He loves the limelight (which he accused Specter of, but which he’s equally guilt of) and he really doesn’t much like to go to Congress and do his job. (Despite running as a Washington outsider, he has spent his entire adult life from the age of 23 working for the federal government–first as a Navy man for 31 years until he was forced to resign in 2005, then as a member of the House since 2007. That’s a Washington insider. Really.) He has the worst atttendance record of any member of the House who hasn’t been seriously ill.

So why would we want him in the Senate?

The meme in Pennsylvania was that he would bring something new to the table. But no one asked the compelling question: What?

Sestak ran on not being Specter. He did a good job of that. But now he’s out on his own, he can’t use Specter as his prop. So what does he do? He flames President Obama.

Way to go, Joe!

If the Obama Administration offered Sestak a job, as Sestak claims, to stay out of the primary, what was the rationale? More’s the point–what was the job?

As Pennsylvanians who are paying attention know, Sestak doesn’t like to answer questions. When asked repeatedly why he was forced to resign from the Navy, he literally waves his hand in the air and says it doesn’t matter. Really? It was your only job in your life except for your three absentee-filled years in the House. Why can’t your constituents and potential constituents know why you were forced to leave it? Not answering makes you look guilty of something to supporters as well as denigrators. So just give us the facts.

Ditto with this job issue which Sestak raised and then backed away from like a bad smell. An accusation of bribery against an administration that has pledged transparency isn’t nothing–no matter what the left blogosphere says. It doesn’t take a salivating Republican to see that there is something off here. But what it is? 

Non-Pennsylvanians and bloggers lauding Sestak for ”standing up to the man”—who in this case, let me remind everyone is Barack Obama–really need to get at least a little bit of a grip.

Sestak ain’t no outsider. He’s a career militarist whose support for both wars is well-known and well-documented. He was to the right of the newly Democratic Arlen Specter and he is to the right of Blanche Lincoln in Arkansas, who the same people who are lauding Sestak are trying to crucify. (Being a fan of neither, I’m merely confused by this. Pick a stance and stick with it, people.)

We all get that this is an anti-incumbency year. But Sestak is an incumbent.  Why has everyone forgotten this?

Let’s say for the sake of the argument currently raging that Sestak was indeed offered a job by Bill Clinton (because as everyone knows, Barack Obama just adores Mr. Clinton and always has him do such secretive work for him) so that Sestak would stay out of the race. This would be the same Bill Clinton whom Sestak once worked for.

What was the reason for this? Why would Obama commit himself on paper to such a thing? Specter didn’t have anything on Obama and he could consider himself lucky to have the Democratic establishment, starting with Obama, support him.

But they did.  

That didn’t require forcing Sestak out of the race. Or offering him a job. So what’s the real story here–because both parties have made this a story and now the Republicans once again get to wag their fingers at the Democrats because of what is either a cover-up (when you refiuse to give the facts yet say they don’t matter, it looks and smells like a cover-up) or an act of the most extreme stupidity, it’s difficult to imagine that intellects of the caliber of both Obama and Clinton were involved in it.

Sestak has proven one thing in this tempest: He can’t be trusted. He kisses and tells just enough to make everyone wonder about the person he’s been necking with–in this case, Obama.

Someone is lying. Does it matter who it is? Yes. It matters because in the fifth most populous state, we deserve some answers from the person who wants to be our senator for the next six years.

As a Pennsylvanian who voted for Obama and has to consider voting for Sestak in November, I want to know what happened and why. I also want to know why the President felt the need to dissemble in a specifically legalistic fashion about this question when it came up in his press conference last week.

There is only a scandal because Sestak and Obama have together created one. If there was a real bribe, that’s fraud and a crime–Sestak is, after all, a paid government official. If there wasn’t, then Sestak is a liar and a cheat and why would any Pennsylvanian want to vote for him?

One person comes out of this smelling like a rose: Republican candidate Pat Toomey, who is running a clean campaign based on merit and not on smears. He has refused to say anything about this debacle–which gives him points in a state with two blue tips and a solid red center.

As I said before: Way to go, Joe!

Sestak and Obama need to clean this mess up now. The longer it festers, the longer Pennsylvanians have to turn to a different candidate. Or at least against Sestak.

As for the blogosphere: Get your facts straight before you minimize the damage that’s being done to both Obama’s and Sestak’s credibility in Pennsylvania–which is not just Philadelphia’s Democrats. While you are off on a different scandal and a different gambit months from now, Pennsylvanians will still have to vote in November–and live with the consequences.–VAB