Democratic Senate candidate Joe Sestak (D-Pennsylvania) has been doing his best to hide from his own liberal record in Congress. Hoping voters will forget his two terms in the US House of Representatives during which he voted with Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) 97% of the time, Congressman Sestak has produced campaign ads highlighting only his service in the US Navy and giving the false impression that he has gone directly from his military career to his current run for the Senate.

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A no-show at a scheduled debate against his Republican opponent Pat Toomey, Mr. Sestak seems to be hiding from not only his record but the issues facing Pennsylvania and the nation; hoping his military past and voter amnesia will help him cut into Mr. Toomey's 9 point lead in the polls. But this past week's endorsement of Mr. Toomey by Reagan-era Navy Secretary John F. Lehman has taken some more wind out of Representative Sestak's already sagging sails.

"Pat is a man of principle and integrity," Secretary Lehman, a Philadelphia native, said during an appearance with Mr. Toomey in Harrisburg. "His commitment to the principles of limited government, individual freedom, and personal liberty are unwavering...I know he will always put the security of our country first." Mr. Lehman, who was also a member of the 9/11 commission, criticized Representative Sestak for his position that terrorist suspects should be tried in civilian courts. (source)

How did the Sestak camp respond? By releasing a statement that acknowledged Mr. Lehman's "honorable service" (which was in fact a 30 year military career) but then tried to dismiss the endorsement by insinuating that since Mr. Lehman founded a private equity firm after his government service, he was just another Wall Streeter.

If Representative Sestak still wants the voters of Pennsylvania to see him as an honorable military man instead of just another liberal politician who would continue to support President Obama's anti-business, job-killing agenda; he probably shouldn't have dissed a former Secretary of the Navy like that.