With less than seven weeks until the 2010 midterm elections, President Barack Obama is working to fill the campaign coffers of a Democratic Senate candidate today for the first time this year.
U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak, running against former Republican Congressman Pat Toomey in the general election, is holding a fundraiser today at the Philadelphia Convention Center with Obama.
The fundraiser marks the first time Obama and Sestak have appeared together since the primary — a race in which the President endorsed Sestak’s opponent, Republican-turned-Democratic U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter.
Associate Penn Campus Coordinator for Students for Sestak and Wharton sophomore Troy Daly said with the election approaching, the disagreements Obama and Sestak had are in the past. He added that the White House has “definitely coalesced” around the campaign.
“I feel like they realize the importance of this Senate race to keeping a Democratic majority,” Daly said.
While waging his primary campaign, Sestak claimed he was offered an unpaid White House advisory position in exchange for dropping out of the Pennsylvania primary.
However, Philadelphia Student Coordinator for Sestak for Senate and College sophomore Ted Koutsoubas feels that the controversy over the offer has ended. “What was done pre-primary is pre-primary,” said Koutsoubas, a former Daily Pennsylvanian photo manager.
He added that the campaign should be focused on the “stark contrast” between Sestak and Toomey.
As figures in the Democratic establishment like the President have rallied behind the Sestak campaign over the past four months, some former supporters of Specter’s campaign have also chosen to work on behalf of the current Democratic nominee.
“I realized this election is about more than the individual,” said Associate Penn Campus Coordinator for Students for Sestak and College sophomore Graham White, a former supporter of the Specter campaign.
White admitted that not every Specter supporter felt the same way as he did, but he also emphasized the need for party unity in November. “If we’re divided, we’re not going to win this election,” he said. “We have to bridge that gap.”
Recent polling suggests that Sestak is facing a competitive yet uphill battle in November. A Rasmussen poll conducted on Sept. 13 showed Sestak trailing Toomey by an 8-percent margin.
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