Democratic Candidate for US Senator: Joe Sestak

Joe Sestak is the highest-ranking military official ever elected to the U.S. Congress, having represented suburban Philadelphia. But don’t automatically put him in the war hawk category.

Aa three star admiral, he served 31 years in the United States Navy, including a series of key command positions as well as on President Clinton’s National Security Council staff. Early in George W. Bush’s presidency, he was “administratively reassigned”, reportedly after clashing with Secretary Rumsfeld.

His first run for Congress, he says, “was motivated by his concern for making a system of ‘healthcare for all’ comparable to the care his cancer stricken daughter received. He won a seat in a mostly Republican district, and was re-elected in that district by 20 points.

In 2010 he ran for US Senate against the democratic leadership that favored Arlen Specter (with leadership supporting Specter’s switch from Republican to Democrat). He beat Specter on his own, but narrowly lost the final election (49%/51%) to Republican Pat Toomey.

Speaking recently to a group at the University of Pittsburgh, he emphasized the warning in Eisenhower’s notes against the undue influence of the “congressional-military-industrial complex”, not just the usually cited “military-industrial complex”. He likened the warning to the Iraq invasion as a “tragic misadventure for which we are still paying the price”.

In this election, he defines four key issues as critical: diplomacy, economic security, climate change and smarter military investments.

Sestak co-signed, with thirty-five other retired admirals and generals, a letter endorsing the proposed 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which he calls “the most important deal since the end of the cold war”. He favors a two-state Palestinian solution and favors working diplomatically with Russia to reduce hostilities in Syria and to jointly target ISIS. He wants to shut down funding for the proposed new land based missile deployments in eastern Europe, specifically aimed to threaten Russia, and replace them with worldwide available submarine deployments.

On the environment, he has 100% ratings from both the Sierra Club and PennFuture and a 96% lifetime rating from the League of Conservation Voters. Sestak favors a moratorium on fracking and calls “climate change the #1 strategic livable issue of our time”. He says he was “disappointed that the Paris climate conference did not go far enough to include “mandatory requirements”.

His campaign website, joesestak.com, tauts his efforts in the House to help pass the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), the 2007 Minimum Wage Increase, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, and the Paycheck Fairness Act. He also voted to improve Social Security benefits and for Medicare solvency: to reduce student loan interest rates; to increase funding for veterans with PTSD, tax incentives for alternative energy, childhood education and homeland security; all of which he contends the incumbent opposed and helped kill.

He says he favors a “single payer” healthcare system, but as the “ideal”.

According to Wikipedia, Sestak has received the following endorsements or taken the following political positions.

Ratings:

* 100% rating from the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence

* “F” from the National Rifle Association

* 100% from NARAL Pro-Choice America

He also supports/supported:

* Reinstatement of the federal ban on assault weapons

* State determination on medical marijuana regulation

* The FISA Amendments Act of 2008 (relating to the degree of wiretapping)

* The original Employee Free Choice Act (which also included card check.)

While he originally campaigned to end the war in Iraq, once in office in 2007, Sestak supported Congressional efforts to re-deploy forces and provide war supplemental funding to give adequate protection and equipment for the armed forces. While he supported the Afghan surge and drone strikes in northwest Pakistan, he also supported the President’s gradual drawdown of troops from Iraq.

In Congress, Sestak co-chaired the Cancer Caucus and was a member of the Autism Caucus, Diabetes Caucus, 21st Century Health Care Caucus, Congressional Mental Health Caucus, Nursing Caucus, and Cystic Fibrosis Caucus.

Jim McCarville is a member of the TMC board and serves on the New People editorial collective.

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