I remember distinctly the last time I had an extended conversation with Joe Sestak.
He was here in our office for his interview with the editorial board in his run against Republican Pat Toomey to succeed U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter.
That Sestak was here at all tells you a little bit about the man. He gave up a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, one it took Democrats 20 years to wrestle away from Curt Weldon and Republican control (even if it took a raid by the FBI to put him over the top).
Then he stuck out his tongue and ignored his party leaders when Specter, after taking a look at the numbers and conceding he was not going to beat Toomey in the GOP primary, promptly swapped parties and was greeted with open arms by the Dem brass.
Only thing is no one asked Sestak how he felt about that. Everyone – including Gov. Ed Rendell and Vice President Joe Biden – expected Sestak to graciously move aside. No such luck. Sestak took on Specter and his own party’s leaders, and he won.
But he could not get the best of Toomey in a close race in November.
As we all exited that interview and gathered in my office to talk it over, I made the following comment: “That guy wants to be president.”
I was wrong. Or maybe I just overshot.
Despite the loss in November, Sestak has stayed busy, criss-crossing the state several times and keeping his name out there.
I thought for a minute he might make a run for his old seat and challenge Pat Meehan.
I should have known better. Sestak has bigger fish to fry.
And I think I know the next ocean he wants to swim in. This guy has his eye on the governor’s mansion.
And I’m not the only one who think so. My lead columnist Gil Spencer recently sat down with Sestak and he came to the same conclusion.
Actually Spencer was sitting in for me on last week's PCN roundtable on the 7th District race. They didn’t spend much time talking about the issues facing the 7th, but they did spend a ton of time looking at Pennsylvania, including some of the areas where Gov. Tom Corbett has come under criticism.
Those would be education spending, and the recent passage of the Voter ID law.
Sestak would be a decided underdog in a race vs. the incumbent Corbett. He’d also have tradition going against him. While Pennsylvania takes turns electing a governor, going back and forth from Democrat to Republican, state voters almost never change course in the middle of the stream. You have to go back to Milton Shapp to find an incumbent governor who was not re-elected.
But Corbett has not exactly lit the world on fire in his first two years in office. The education cuts in particular put him in the crosshairs.
And it’s never been beyond Sestak’s scope to tilt at windmills. The guy goes his own way, whether it be as an admiral or a congressman.
Don’t think he can do it? Check with Arlen Specter. He might tell you differently.
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