PENNSYLVANIA JOKER – AT 8:52 A.M. ET:  The Democratic primary in Pennsylvania is Tuesday.  It couldn't be closer.  Incumbent Senator and recent convert to Demism Arlen Specter is battling Congressman Joe Sestak:  The latest, from RealClearPolitics:

The latest Muhlenberg College tracking poll (5/9-12, 405 LVs, MoE +/- 5%) of the Pennsylvania Senate race shows Sen. Arlen Specter and Rep. Joe Sestak still neck-and-neck with just days to go.

Senate Primary Election Matchup
Sestak 44 (-1)
Specter 44 (-1)
Und 12 (+3)

Specter is a known quantity.  Sestak is a former Navy vice admiral, something that might help him draw independents in the general election, should he win the nomination. 

However, there's a shadow over Sestak's service career, and it involves his leaving the Navy.  An informed source sends Urgent Agenda the following:

One of Admiral Michael Mullen's first acts as chief of naval operations was to tell then Vice Admiral Sestak it was time to go home. When he announced his decision at a meeting of three- and four-star admirals, Admiral Mullen received a standing ovation.  Sestak was a very difficult case who treated people - including other flag officers - with disdain and rudeness....

That is bound to come out in a general-election campaign.  Americans revere their military, and correctly so, but have a long tradition of looking at retired officers as they would any other candidates.  That is healthy in a democracy.  Douglas MacArthur, a hero when President Truman relieved him of command in Korea in 1951, thought he could return to the U.S. and name his ticket.  But his extreme statements turned off the electorate, which embraced another five-star, Dwight Eisenhower, elected president in 1952.  

How will Sestak do, if he gets the Senate nomination?  Well, a statewide Pennsylvania campaign against GOP star Pat Toomey is different from being elected to Congress in a Democratic district.  Sestak's unfavorable separation from the Navy is bound to hurt in conservative areas, which might ordinarily lean toward a military officer.

May 13, 2010