I didn’t see this coming. Joe Sestak, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania, has picked up the endorsement of Chuck Hagel:
Hagel told The Associated Press on Monday that Sestak has demonstrated during his two terms in Congress that he puts the interests of the nation and his constituents ahead of his party.
“I think he’s exactly what our country needs more of. I think he’s what the Senate needs more of — courageous, independent thinking,” Hagel said. “That’s what the job is about. You are supposed to use your judgment.”
I’m not sure if this a reflection of Hagel’s antipathy for the Club for Growth (and their candidate Pat Toomey) or more about a personal relationship with Sestak. Either way, it is a welcome development. Sestak picked up the endorsement of former-Republican and current New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg last week. It’s nice to see that Sestak is able to attract the support of moderates who used to consider themselves members of the GOP. Republicans are surging in Pennsylvania and we need all the help we can get.
what’s interesting is that this endorsement is in the context of the NYT’s ugly weekend piece on sestak, which essentially portrayed him as a goofy loser, a fence turtle.
that’s exactly how he was characterized before he crushed Arlen Specter, and although my feelings about Sestak are ambivalent at best, i also think it’s good to see these endorsements, which undermine the official narrative.
Do you think Hagel would ever have done this for Arlen? Ha!
It’s also a reminder of Obama’s successful wooing of Republican moderates. Chuck Hagel, Richard Lugar, John McHugh, Ray LaHood, Robert Gates—part of the reason Republicans have gone on the deep end is Obama quickly and deftly co-opted a significant percentage of the remaining center-right Republicans.
Of course, but he puts them in positions where he is in agreement with them. He doesn’t put Hagel in charge of the HHS. Or as Labor Secretary.
Good point. So Gates stays at Defense and provides invaluable cover for Obama’s efforts to get out of Iraq and to take steps in the direction of controlling Pentagon spending. McHugh becomes Secretary of the Army which opens up his seat (that the Democrats win). LaHood’s at Transportation where he seems to be doing a decent job (not, as you point out at Labor or HHS). Judd Gregg was in this category too. If he’d take Commerce Secretary, it would have been a coup because it’s a backwater department and New Hampshire is trending blue.