U.S. Rep. Joseph Sestak, D-7, of Edgmont, will receive the backing of former Republican Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel today, the second out-of-state, other-party politician to support Sestak in a week.
Sestak said after a speaking engagement Monday in Philadelphia that Hagel’s endorsement meant a lot to him because he views the former two-term senator as a man of principle.
“The best three days I spent in Congress were on a trip to Iraq with him,” said Sestak. “I found him honest, very competent and willing to be accountable. We’re not going to agree … on everything, no Americans do, but I’m really honored by this. I believe we have problems to solve (and) it’s going to take all ideas on the table.”
“I think he’s exactly what our country needs more of,” said Hagel, who retired from the Senate in 2008. “I think he’s what the Senate needs more of — courageous, independent thinking. That’s what the job is about. You are supposed to use your judgment.”
Read the rest here.
Comment: Reading between the lines of Mr. Hagel's comment, we can understand that he views the role of US Senator not as one who represents his or her state, or for that matter the citizenry of that state, but for his own personal agenda...that's what "independent thinking" really means. Again, another consequence of the 17th Amendment, where senators act like mini-presidents rather than "representatives."
How about that "party" unity? So tell please tell me there are two major parties with two different agendas struggling to gain control of the rudder that steers our course. It's all one party folks once you cross the I-495 beltway.
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