Sestak: Specter has a few weeks to prove mettle

Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Pa.) says newly Democratic Sen. Arlen Specter
(Pa.) has a few weeks to lay out his vision and prove he’s the right man for the Democratic Party in Pennsylvania.

In an interview with The Hill, Sestak expounded on his statements from Tuesday, in which he left open the possibility of running against Specter in a primary despite the Democratic establishment’s having lined up behind Specter.

{mosads}Sestak has emerged as the leading Democratic voice withholding judgment on Specter, and he said he won’t let party leaders discourage him.

“While the political establishment in Washington may support him, the determination has to be made by the fellow sitting in a diner in Upper Darby,” Sestak said. “Is this the gentleman who has the right leadership to shape the Democratic Party when (he has) had a pretty tough dialogue with his base and didn’t shape that party?”

Sestak said he has no timetable and only began talking to people about the race this month. But he suggested Specter’s actions in the near term will play a big role.

“I haven’t heard those (ideas) yet, and I think maybe that’s what will come out in the next few weeks or so,” Sestak said. “You don’t want to wait two years. It should be a couple weeks or something.”

Sestak noted that he defied leaders at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee when he first ran for office in 2006, as they had eyed someone else for the race.

Sestak said party leaders might be jumping the gun in their support for Specter too.

“As he articulates these things, he may be the guy,” Sestak said.

“But if not, then I think you do a disservice by telling people someone’s the guy, if you haven’t laid out why he’s the guy — not for Washington, D.C., but for the lives of Pennsylvanians.”