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PA-Sen: Torsella Out

by: DavidNYC

Thu May 14, 2009 at 5:50 PM EDT


Quelle surprise:

Democrat Joe Torsella is dropping out of the Pennsylvania Senate race, according to two well-placed Democratic sources, leaving Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) with no serious opposition in the Democratic primary - at least for now.

Looks like it's Sestak or bust at this point.
DavidNYC :: PA-Sen: Torsella Out
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PA-Sen: Torsella Out | 42 comments
Whatever will OpenLefters do now?
seeing as Sestak is a neocon and all.  

Liberty Avenue Politics - a place for politics in Southern Queens
Vote for Toomey
they're crazy enough to do it too.
[ Parent ]
Umm...Sestak is no neocon.
He's got a pretty high progressive punch score for someone from a swing district, in the low nineties, and he's been good on every issue I can think of, from Iraq to labor (where he gets 100% from the same site.)

We Openlefters will be happy to support him over Specter in the same way we supported folks like Mark Begich-he's a BETTER Democrat, not necessarily the best Democrat.

http://www.bluearkansasblog.com

[ Parent ]
Sestak was the better bet than Torsella anyway
He can raise more money and he's not Rendell's creature, so he's more pliable.

There isn't a good Pennsylvania candidate for liberals. There aren't really any strong progressives in the congressional delegation or state-wide office, so beating Specter is the priority rather than getting another Wellstone.

Besides, this is nothing new. Ned Lamont wasn't great on issues of corporate power, but he was a candidate, so those shortcomings were accepted.

[ Parent ]
The thing is, you've always got to look for the BETTER candidate.
We can't be under any illusions that we're going to get the best possible progressive in every state.  However, we can always push the envelope and try to make sure each one is as progressive as possible.  We're still not at the point where Democrats even want to be strong progressives, though I'd love to see them point to one progressive policy that's bad policy, but if we keep working at it eventually we could turn that around.  My aspiration is to see the day where progressives are the majority in this country, and if we continue pushing from where we're at now we'll get there within my lifetime for sure.

http://www.bluearkansasblog.com
[ Parent ]
PA-06
PA-06. PA-06. PA-06. PA-06. PA-06. PA-06. PA-06. PA-06. PA-06. PA-06. PA-06. PA-06. PA-06. Did I happen to mention PA-06?

(And yes, I and the rest of SSP's crack team of map-readers did ascertain that he lives about one mile outside PA-06's lines. That shouldn't stop him from running there. I mean, come on... Tom McClintock, anyone?)

now would be a good time
to buy a new house about a mile away.  

Liberty Avenue Politics - a place for politics in Southern Queens
[ Parent ]
Too bad Torsella doesn't
have the situation Lt Gov John Garamendi in CA has. The district line goes right through his property. He lives in both CA-10 and CA-03. If you're a politician, that doubles your options!
(BTW, why is it taking so long to confirm Tauscher to her State Dept job? They're holding up that CA-10 special election...)
[ Parent ]
Really?
I thought he just had property in both districts.

28, Unenrolled, MA-08
[ Parent ]
that happened to me
seriously...from 1993-2003 I lived in NY-09, but my bedroom, garage and backyard was technically in NY-06.


Liberty Avenue Politics - a place for politics in Southern Queens
[ Parent ]
I'm very entertained (in a somewhat morbid way) by all these ideas
of gerrymandering down to the housing floorplan level.

party: Democratic, ideology: moderate, district: CT-01
[ Parent ]
lots really
my house sat on two lots...one lot, where the bulk of the house was, was in NY-09 and the other lot, where the extension of the house where my bedroom and the backyard was, was in NY-06.  

Liberty Avenue Politics - a place for politics in Southern Queens
[ Parent ]
well, I'm entertained by the notion that you can change your district membership by simply switching bedrooms.
And now I am tossing around in my mind the notion of using carpet ages to draw district boundaries in urban areas.

party: Democratic, ideology: moderate, district: CT-01
[ Parent ]
Or...
Kick a hubby outta the bed and into 'the other district' if you dont want them to run for Congress ;).
[ Parent ]
Interesting story
In 2001 when my grandmother moved in with us and reregistered to vote, she ended up in NY-06 even though the rest of us in the house was in NY-09. She was put in a completely different ED despite the fact she lived in the same house. Board of Elections claimed it was because she was in a different apartment of a two family home (I mean really?) But I think it was because she was a registered Republican and they tried to put her in the more Democratic district. NY-06 is like D+40 and was then while NY-09 was like D+12.

Anyway, redistricting happened a few months later and, as it turns out, we all ended up in the same ED and Congressional District.  

Liberty Avenue Politics - a place for politics in Southern Queens

[ Parent ]
All of that is just confusing
How can an elections official prove exactly where ones bedroom is? I mean do they come to the house to 'inspect'? LOL. States should just keep things simple and not carve up peoples' houses or even apartment/condo complexes. A sprawling ranch or estate, sure...but thats about as much as they should.
[ Parent ]
Well I researched it myself
in 2001, when my grandmother's registered thing occured. I don't remember what our lot numbers were, but let's say we own Lot 1435 and Lot 1436. If you go to borough hall and look up districts by lot number, you'd see what district it's in. As it turns out one of our lots was in NY-06 and the other was in NY-09...they were, however, in the same NYC Council, State Assembly and State Senate seat.

But the resident is registered in whatever district his or her's address is and my address was in the lot that as in NY-09, so tht's where I was registered even though my bedroom was in the other lot in the other district.

The basic premise is that if someone bought my house and decided to build two houses, one in each lot (which happens often nowadays in my neighborhood), one would be in one district and the other in the other, but since the last redistricting both lots are not in the same district. The district border is about 8 blocks to the east and two blocks south.

That's the fun thing about gerrymandering. My mother walks to work five blocks away. She walks from our house in NY-09 into NY-06 and the back into NY-09 again.



Liberty Avenue Politics - a place for politics in Southern Queens

[ Parent ]
Well I researched it myself
in 2001, when my grandmother's registered thing occured. I don't remember what our lot numbers were, but let's say we own Lot 1435 and Lot 1436. If you go to borough hall and look up districts by lot number, you'd see what district it's in. As it turns out one of our lots was in NY-06 and the other was in NY-09...they were, however, in the same NYC Council, State Assembly and State Senate seat.

But the resident is registered in whatever district his or her's address is and my address was in the lot that as in NY-09, so tht's where I was registered even though my bedroom was in the other lot in the other district.

The basic premise is that if someone bought my house and decided to build two houses, one in each lot (which happens often nowadays in my neighborhood), one would be in one district and the other in the other, but since the last redistricting both lots are not in the same district. The district border is about 8 blocks to the east and two blocks south.

That's the fun thing about gerrymandering. My mother walks to work five blocks away. She walks from our house in NY-09 into NY-06 and the back into NY-09 again.



Liberty Avenue Politics - a place for politics in Southern Queens

[ Parent ]
Intrestring you brought that up
Because in 2002 in PA when the GOP made the gerrymander map, they gerrymanderd Democratic Rep. Frank Mascara out of his district into John Murtha's district. Funny thing is his residence was in Murtha's district, but the place across the street where he parks his car was in his old  District (which is now Tim Murphy's district).

Gotta love gerrymandering and the kooky maps they come up with like TX-22, which looks like two crossed swords.

[ Parent ]
Its as if...
The CA state legislature did that to Garamendi as some sort of prank. How awfully coincidental. Neither of those districts are small either. Im sure it was just a coincidence but you never know.
[ Parent ]
And itd be something
If Garamendi would have just said, 'ok, I'll build a little shack in the area where Lungren's district is in so I can run there', if he had chosen to go against him instead. Who knows, maybe he eventually will!
[ Parent ]
Although
He doesnt have to actually live in his district, right? Tom McClintock coming to mind.
[ Parent ]
Nope.
Someone living right across from the border with Oregon in CA-04 could run for Congress in CA-51, which is on the border with Mexico.
[ Parent ]
Deal?
Anyone think there's already a deal between Torsella, Rendell, and Specter for Torsella to drop out and the others to support him for some other office?  Torsella put his foot forward to run and now is pulling out for the good fo the party (or at least because his mentor wants him to).  I suspect he's in line for something else.
[ Parent ]
Remember, you can live outside of the district
It helps politically, but a Torsella-out-by-a-mile is a much better candidate than Doug Pike.  You just have to live in PA.  

Similarly, if Sestak runs for reelection, State Rep. Bryan Lentz (currently Sestak's heir apparent) should consider relocating from Sestak's district into this one.

Or State Rep. Josh Shapiro, now that he's not running for LG, Senate, or Allyson's district.

ANY GOOD candidate would win PA-6.

[ Parent ]
couldn't agree more
Torsella needs to seriously consider moving and doing so rather quickly.  

Check out http://electioninspection.word... for the latest news, election results, poll analysis, and predictions
One important detail
is that he's sitting on $584K cash on hand that's transferable to a House race. That kind of money is still peanuts in a big-state Senate race, but very hefty for a House race, especially this early in the game.
[ Parent ]
federal is as federal does
I'm pretty sure your right on that and that the money he has so far can be directly dumped into a house race.  Lets hope he goes for it.  Might force Gerlach into the senate primary and give us a nice easy race for the house.  

Check out http://electioninspection.word... for the latest news, election results, poll analysis, and predictions
[ Parent ]
If Torsella ran against Gerlach
the funds he raised for the Senate race are transferable, right?
Funds are transferrable from House to Senate...
... so they presumably would also be the other way around (though that's not something we typically hear about!)

(I would understand the reason for not allowing that though: Someone might declare a Senate run to raise more money and then drop down to a House race.)

[ Parent ]
He lives in the 13th
But he could probably make a good run for the 6th. "Carpetbagger" wouldn't really stick, I think, since the Philly media market is so cohesive.  
Not much of a stretch
His house, while, yes, in the 13th, is about one mile away from the 6th (I walk, um, wheel not much less than this distance to school and back multiple times a day).  Hardly carpetbagging when you probably shop at a grocery store in the next district over.  Who knows?  His kids, if he has any, might go to school in the 6th too.

30, male, Democratic, CO-01
[ Parent ]
Torsella out?!
No wai!!!

Probably a good thing though, Specter could probably win a plurality against Torsella and Sestak, but against just one strong candidate, we've got a shot.  Sestak will also be more likely to get in if Specter gets a free ride otherwise.

I wonder if Sestak's recent comments have influenced Torsella as much as Rendell has.

Sestak
Sestak definitely needs to keep his options open for a while longer.  Specter seems to have finally started moving left with the Sestak threat gaining some momentum.  I don't trust Specter.  He probably can't be beat and doubt that it's worth it to have a big primary fight.  But, a little pressure to keep him in line is a good thing.
PA-06
If we're going to carpetbag, I'd prefer Josh Shapiro ran.  He's technically from the 13th, but the Districts are adjacent to one another.
fivethirtyeight.com
has a really awesome Spectermeter that shoes how democratic Specter has been since the party switch.
That's a great analysis.
Got to hand it to Nate Silver, that dude can figure out a way to quantify just about anything.

Also, shows that Nelson is now voting closer to the Repubs than to Dems.

[ Parent ]
Torsella says he's giving the money back (Somehow)
She I don't think he's running for anything after all. (Via email).
He stated that he'd return contributions
in his youtube Senate race withdrawal video (available from the Politico link in the post. Or from his website).
HOWEVER, he goes on to say he'll consider all opportunities that the future brings.

I think Chris Van Hollen and the DCCC need to start a charm offensive on Joe ASAP!
(4 years ago, Rahmbo probably would've already talked to him half a dozen times)
(BTW, very nice video. Joe seems like a good candidate)

[ Parent ]
He's really a decent guy
Would have made a good Senator too.
[ Parent ]
Agreed.
[ Parent ]
Snarlin Arlen---
I can't wait until someone builds a political theme park.  The first ride has to be the Snarlin Arlen.

Seriously, I'm glad that Specter has left the GOP party, and I want his defection to be a positive event for the Democratic party.  Going back to Nate Silver's article, Specter is making some strides to the Democrats.  Time will tell if he will be a reliable vote.

At the same time, I would like a progressive Democrat to challenge Specter and let the PA Democrats decide if he is acceptable for the Democratic nomination.  Adding some pressure to Arlen to toe the line may help us out for the next year and a half.  If Arlen is re-elected, I'm worried that he will go his own route and do whatever the heck he wants to do.  

40, male, Democrat, NC-04

PA-Sen: Torsella Out | 42 comments

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