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7 Seeking the Summit September W hy isn’t this escalator going up? Hasn’t it been only a matter of months since everyone from professors madonna and Borick to Hardball’s Chris matthews was touting this race as the most riveting in the nation? They could hardly wait to see it unfold. Here were these two “good men,” as pat Toomey’s early ad put it, coherently espousing diametrically opposed views for our future as Americans . Despite the circus of claims and counterclaims every election entails, the personal confrontation of Toomey and Joe sestak promised to be that political rarity, both uncommonly elevated and exciting. yet by september the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Karen Heller was characterizing the contest, along with pennsylvania’s gubernatorial election, as “dull vs. blah” and “short on sizzle.” Back in may, you may recall, she had found the Democratic senatorial primary between sestak and Arlen specter almost too sizzling, suggesting that voters need to hold their collective noses to cast a ballot for either, so mutually odious as to merit only a mother’s love. yet now Admiral sestak, the winner in that no-holds-barred prelim bout, had apparently become just as dull as Toomey. equally surprising, when Heller solicited the contribution of Terry madonna, previously so enamored of the coming sestak-Toomey main event, he concurred. “pennsylvania likes bland,” he said, “We have a long history of bland. . . . listening to republican pat Toomey and Democrat Joe sestak is like listening to two professors giving a lecture.” Bland? What about ed rendell, Arlen specter, rick santorum, Frank rizzo, richardson Dilworth, David lawrence, John murtha, 162 / Chapter 7 Dan Flood? And are your lectures so boring? For that matter, in the mystic chords of memory i don’t recall ever having a professor quite as ebullient as Joe sestak. After his class he’d probably race students back to their dorms for more vigorous give-and-take. yes, a pat Toomey in academic garb might be inclined to lower-key lectures, but what remotely serious student wouldn’t be stimulated by their content? it was never so much “sizzle” as the contrast between these two candidates, personal as well as philosophical, that provided this race with its peculiar zest, and this book with its genesis. That endures, no less than before. Consider a current appraisal of the republican contender from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “in an angry political season pat Toomey sometimes seems out of place. . . . His restrained demeanor may contrast with the often superheated rhetoric of the times, but his unwavering policy positions of lower taxes and less spending may have found their moment.” This was bound to be an exciting election by its very nature. What has been lacking thus far is the anticipated elevation. With each new attack ad, increasingly financed by outsiders, public perception of the contest descends to the common denominator of all the others. now that the race is reaching its culmination, only a direct confrontation between the two candidates, as animated but informative as their two debates before the may primaries, might recapture some of the media magic that, indeed, has been missing. meaningful should matter more than colorful, but there is surely no lack of colorful candidates, in every context, in these midterm elections. in Kentucky , rand paul talks with inflections so distinctive they seem to be shared only with his better-known father, the libertarian Texas congressman ron paul. in Delaware, the republican primary for the U.s. senate was won by Christine O’Donnell, once accused of dabbling in witchcraft. so volatile a political climate nationally should render pennsylvania’s choice of contrasting , qualified, yet civil candidates more refreshing than boring. But little is very surprising in any political season within this vibrant democracy of ours, or in view of the pervasive media overkill of anything offbeat. recently the most obscure pastor in Florida, a “yosemite sam” lookalike with a congregation smaller than the attendance at our granddaughter’s “sip and see,” briefly emerged as the number one news story around the world. But then we hadn’t planned to burn any copies of the Koran out on our lawn. No one takes running more literally than Joe sestak, or the plight of working families more seriously. He and a holiday like labor Day were made for each other. so, in sestak’s estimation, is the city of pittsburgh, where he spent labor Day 2010. We’ve observed that he doesn’t merely walk [3...

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