President Obama’s Campaign Arm Tries to Get Grass-Roots Democrats to Defeat Progressive Candidate

[Bluebear]

Organizing for America, the former grass-roots campaign arm for President Obama’s 2008 campaign, is trying to rally supporters to phone bank and get out the vote in Pennsylvania for Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Penn., the former Republican locked in a tight primary race with a far more progressive Democrat, Rep. Joe Sestak, D-Penn.

Chris Bolling, the national volunteer coordinator for OFA, writes in an email that the “stakes of this election are high: ensuring that allies of the President are elected in the House and Senate to fight for change. So starting this weekend, through Tuesday's election, there will be phone banks for OFA volunteers in D.C. We'll call into Pennsylvania and encourage voters to support leaders who will fight for President Obama's vision for change.”

Specter, of course, supported the presidential campaign of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and only became a Democrat when it became clear he would suffer an ignominious defeat in the GOP primary to former Rep. Pat Toomey, R-Penn. But the White House, needing Specter’s support for various parts of the president’s agenda, pledged to help him in his re-election.

But all that politics making strange bedfellows means that the president’s campaign arm is asking grass-roots progressives to vote for someone who until last year was a Republican to defeat Sestak, who is indubitably a more legitimate progressive.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2010/05/president-obamas-campaign-arm-tries-to-get-grassroots-democrats-to-defeat-fellow-progressive.html

[scubadude]

1. I thought Obama was a pragmatist, not a progressive. nt

[besdayz]

2. a progressive would have tried to get a true liberal on the court

in at least 1 of his 2 attempts.....

[AllentownJake]

3. Joe Sestak is not a progressive

If he wins, I'm going to get a good laugh at all the people that have a light bulb moment after the primary.

If it wasn't for the party switch, Joe would be the DLC establishment candidate.

That being said, no one should ever donate directly to OFA, the DNC, the DSCC, or the DCCC. This is how they use their money and staff. Interfering in primaries.

[notesdev]

4. What is it about Specter

that he is able to get this kind of influence on his behalf... his last campaign he got Bush to campaign for him over a challenger that was well on his way to kicking his butt.

[cali]

5. Sestak a progressive?

Nope. Not by any stretch.

[mmonk]

6. I pay no attention to Organizing for America or the party organizations

such as the DSCC or DCCC on which Democrats I should vote for. It should be issues and as a voter, that is how I choose which candidate in the primaries.