These numbers arrived via an email from the DSCC today:

Pennsylvania: Joe Sestak has pulled ahead of Pat Toomey, 47-44 after DSCC went on the air.

I have no idea whose poll it was taken from, but I hope they are realistic numbers demonstrating that Sestak is pulling ahead of the guy who is too conservative, even for Rick “man on dog” Santorum. Really! Even Rick finds him too conservative for Pennsylvania. Pat Toomey is the Republican running to represent Wall Street as a Pennsylvania Senator. But Toomey describes himself as like Santorum, so if you thought Pennsylvania was better off with Rick Santorum as our Senator, then you may like Toomey.

What bothers me is the way the candidates are framing this election. The GOP and conservatives frame it as if what Obama has done is destroying America, when in reality, Wall Street and the Too Big To Fail Banks brought our country and the world’s economy to the very brink of utter destruction. The Tea Party crazies jump on their bandwagon, when it is spending that was caused by Wall Street itself that has led to the deficit that the Teabaggers are so up in arms about. They are working to restore the very policies that led to the financial collapse.

But in reality, this election isn’t about the economy or budget deficits for many voters. It is about social purity. This Letter to the Editor demonstrates that for many, Abortion is the big ticket item this election is all about.

I recently received my fall copy of LifeLines, published by the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation, and I learned that Sestak is 100 percent for abortions but his opponent for the U.S. Senate seat, Pat Toomey, is 100 percent against abortions — and this in itself would keep me from voting for Sestak.

Now, this is a bit odd, but it makes his point.  I’ve never met a politician who is 100% for abortion, but I have met politicians who believe that a woman must have the right to make reproductive decisions about her own body, where as those who are 100% against abortion- that’s code for allowing the government to control a woman’s body and her decision making abilities.

When Government Deserves Control

If I can go off on a tangent for a brief moment- the far right is against Hate Crimes legislation because they claim it will control what a preacher can say in the pulpit. Here is a place where the government should have no control. But they are fine with allowing the government to have total control over a woman’s body and her personal decision making?

What About Corbett and Onorato?

Also, on the election for governor, Dan Onorato refused to respond to any of the questions as to where he stands on the subject of abortion put to him by the federation, but Tom Corbett answered, and he is 100 percent against abortions. This election is a no brainer for me.

Onorato may not have responded to a questionnaire, but his position on this is pretty clear, and in fact it is one reason that some progressives couldn’t support him in the primary. But the differences between the two candidates is extremely clear and well documented. Corbett believes that all women should be forced to carry a birth to term even in cases of rape and incest. In other words, total control over a woman’s body. Onorato is committed to keeping the PA abortion laws exactly as they are (some of the most restrictive anywhere in the country) even if Roe v Wade was overturned. In other words, Dan Onorato wants to keep the focus on the Pennsylvania economy and jobs and maintain the status quo on this social issue, and Tom Corbett is focused on increasing government control in individual’s lives.

What can you do?

Keep this election about Jobs, the economy and making Pennsylvania a state where people come, live, thrive, prosper and call home by electing Joe Sestak and Dan Onorato, and take the power away from the far right fringe who are focused on puritanical social positions.

The Daily KOS has more ideas about supporting Joe Sestak!