Sestak's Last Chance

Foreign Policy Enters the Election
Foreign policy has finally entered the historic election between Democrat Joe Sestak and Republican Pat Toomey. The two men are running to be the next United States Senator from Pennsylvania.

Sestak is emphasizing his expertise in national security policy. Sestak is a retired Navy Admiral who has played a prominent role in national security policy for decades. Toomey appears to be a traditional hard line Republican.

A Frustrating Campaign
Sestak has tried everything from advocating using tax breaks for business to develop more jobs, to bringing Vice-President Biden and President Obama to Philadelphia to campaign for him. His campaign has not produced the desired result. He still trailed Pat Toomey in the polls and had not even begun to close the gap. Toomey has maintained the same lead since the May primary. Toomey also leads in fundraising and assistance from supporters that purchase television ads such as the Chamber of Commence. This frustartion in his campaign implied that he should try something new.

Sestak's speech allowed him to highlight his experience in national security where he has held many prestigious positions. He formed the Navy's anti-terrorism unit after the infamous attacks of September 11, 2001. When America's interests were on the line in the Middle East, he commanded an aircraft battle group in support of American soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq in 2002 and 2003.

Sestak retired from the Navy in January 2006, and is now in his second term as a congressman from the suburbs of Philadelphia. Toomey is also from the Philadelphia area as he is a former congressman from the Allentown area.

A Measuring Stick for Afghanistan
In a major speech, Sestak called on President Obama to establish a clear measuring stick for military progress in the war on al-Qaida on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

Sestak spoke three days before the ninth anniversary of the American strike on the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. The attack on the Taliban was in response to the infamous attack on the United States on September 11, 2001.

Sestak's strategy on Afghanistan two main parts. Our troops must have a clearly defined strategy which is to neutralize the threat of al-Qaida, and eliminate their safe havens in the border area of Pakistan. Sestak delivered his speech in the rotunda of Pennsylvania's Capitol building.

Sestak sounded an ominous warning. The Taliban and al-Qaida could seize nuclear weapons if the government of Pakistan collapses.

Last year, Sestak supported President Obama's decision to put a greater emphasis on Afghanistan by sending more troops there. Sestak said the build-up was required to keep al-Qaida out of their safe havens in Pakistan. Sestak believes the Obama Administration needs useful assessments of its efforts against al-Qaida in Pakistan.

Sestak wants to know if the enemy is being set back, and if we are impeding their ability to operate. If we are not achieving those objectives, then we need to know what we can do to be more effective. Moreover, we need to determine if it is possible to achieve these objectives using the Obama Administration's strategy. We must be able to measure our success to answer these questions.

Iran
Recently, Toomey criticized the Obama administration and Sestak for being too soft on Iran and its nuclear programs. Toomey claims he supports the strongest possible economic sanctions on Iran, with the objective of convincing Iran to abandon its efforts to build nuclear weapons. Toomey says Sestak refuses to accept that approach and that the Obama administration was late in imposing the most stringent sanctions.

Sestak counters that he has a tough record on Iran. Sestak voted for economic sanctions against Iran as far back 2007. He voted for sanctions when Congress wanted to add Iran's Revolutionary Guard to the U.S. list of terrorist organizations.

A Successful Strategy

Introducing foreign policy into the election has been very successful for Sestak. Talking about foreign policy and stressing his experience in national security highlighted his outstanding leadership skills. That was one of the factors that led to a reversal in the polls.

For the first time since May, Joe Sestak is edging Pat Toomey in the race for the US Senate. Sestak leads Toomey 44 to 41 percent with 15 percent undecided in the Muhlenberg College tracking poll. The poll of about 400 likely voters was completed on Tuesday, October 19, 2010. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points. This poll represents a reversal of an earlier poll this month which showed Toomey in the lead by 46 to 39 percent.

The poll supports the findings of a poll by the Democratic-leaning firm Public Policy Polling of Raleigh, N.C. This firm's poll had Sestak in the lead at 46 to 45 percent. The poll was completed on October 18, and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.7 percentage points.

Source: 1. Marc Levy, Sestak wants White House to gauge progress in Afghanistan, The Citizens' Voice, October 5, 2010.
2. Borys Krawczeniuk, Poll Vaulting, The Citizens' Voice, October 21, 2010.