As if the PA-07 congressional primary wasn't confusing enough

Yesterday, engaged Democrats in the 7th Legislative District were looking at a contested primary between Paul Scoles (favored by the County party establishment) and Bryan Lentz, an outsider-challenger who is a veteran of the conflicts in Bosnia and Iraq.

Today, there's still (we presume) a contested primary, but one of the players has been switched. Scoles has dropped out and been replaced by Joe Sestak, Jr.

I'd never heard of Joe Sestak before today, but if you want to judge a candidate by resumé alone, he sure comes across as being formidable. To wit:

• Springfield native (striking right in the heart of the Republican core of Delco.)
• Cardinal O'Hara High School grad
• B.S. from U.S. Naval Academy
• Ph.D. from Harvard University in Political Economy & Government (A gentleman and a scholar?)
• Director of Defense Policy under Bill Clinton (Ah, we love just typing the words "Bill Clinton.")
• Vice-Admiral in Command of the USS George Washington aircraft carrier group in the War in Afghanistan.

And, we are told, he's pro-choice, in favor of universal access to health care, and was opposed to the war in Iraq.

Well, of course I need to hear and see more before I come to any conclusions, but this is obviously a person with a long and distinguished history of service to his country. He has my attention. I'm always appreciative of good candidates with useful experience who are willing to take up the effort for the Democratic cause, so no matter how this plays out, I want to just take a moment to express my sincere appreciation of Paul Scoles, Bryan Lentz, and Joe Sestak, Jr.

Technorati Tags: PA Politics Democrats PA-07 Bryan Lentz Paul Scoles Joe Sestak Election-2006