Pa. voters get their say
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Rep. Joe Sestak, D-Pa., above, looks on as he receives an endorsement from the Rev. Leonard C. Goins in Philadelphia on Monday. -
Mr. Sestak is in a close race in today's Democratic primary with Sen. Arlen Specter, left, seen leaving the airport in New Cumberland, Pa.
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WASHINGTON, Pa. -- Ken Bonnell was, possibly, the walking emblem of the cranky voter of 2010: sporting a sticker for a Democratic congressional candidate and voicing his anger at his party's signature legislative accomplishment.
"What about health reform?" he asked, staring at Sen. Bob Casey. "What about that $500 million you guys took off Medicare?"
Mr. Casey was on a swing through the 12th Congressional District to stump for Mark Critz, his party's nominee to succeed the late John P. Murtha. Outside, a group of home-schooled volunteers, some from as far away as Schuylkill County, chanted for Republican nominee Tim Burns. One or two carried signs denouncing "Obamacare" -- the term opponents use to describe the administration's health care reform bill.
Mr. Casey nodded politely.
"As people start to see the implementation of it, the animosity is going to diminish," he said. "I think it's a short-term problem, politically."
The problem is that, in the shorter term, voters go to the polls today and, from health care reform to a general surliness toward Washington, government and authority in general, the atmosphere is fogged with discontent.
In addition to threatening to reverse a 36-year legacy of Democratic rule in the 12th District, the seat held until his February death by the legendary John P. Murtha, primary voters today could conceivably retire the state's longest serving United States senator, as Democratic convert Arlen Specter struggles against a primary challenge from Rep. Joe Sestak.
Mr. Sestak was in Pittsburgh Monday for a round of closing arguments to the voters. The retired admiral wore an olive jacket with the patch of the U.S.S. George Washington Battle Group -- one of his Navy commands, as he fielded questions in a Highland Park coffee shop.
"His time has come and gone," he said of his opponent. "Thirty years in Washington and look at the mess we're in."
First Published May 18, 2010 12:00 am
