Why the Democratic establishment fears Bernie Sanders

[Divernan]

5. Dem.establishlment recruits & funds primary opponents to progressive Dem. candidates

In Pennsylvania, the DSCC floundered through recruiting a series of conserva-Dems to oppose former US Congressman/retired Navy Admiral Joe Sestak.

He was the Congressman running for US Senate when the powers that be in the Dem. party got Arlen Specter to switch from GOP to Dem, in exchange for the promise the Dems would run him unopposed to continue in the U.S. Senate. Sestak refused to drop out of the primary race, and handily beat Specter in the primary, only to narrowly lose to the GOP candidate by 2 points in the general election in a dismal year for Democrats. The state and national Dems provided Sestak with ZIP financial or any kind of support in that general election because

Wait For It . . . .

They would rather lose to the Republicans than let a progressive, independent Democrat take office.

So the DSCC would rather have a heated, divisive primary than risk a progressive Democrat win a Senate seat.

So after the first 2 candidates the DSCC (Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee) recruited to run against Sestak went down in flames (including Allentown mayor Ed Pawlowski), they persuaded Katie McGinty to run. She's never held elected office at any level, and was the appointed, fracking-friendly head of the state's misnamed Dept. of Environmental Protection, whose husband lobbies for Big Fracking.

Think about that- NEVER HELD ELECTIVE OFFICE - never had to answer to the voters - and starting out at the level of the U. S. Senate. Talk about a steep learning curve. But that's perfectly fine with the DSCC & party leadership. She will be their perfect sheep and vote however she's told. And she would never, ever vote against the interests of Big Oil or Big Energy.

Given McGinty's pro-fracking actions/ties to Big Fracking, it is beyond outrageous that she campaigns as an "environmentalist". By entering the primary race, she is also forcing Sestak to spend significant amounts at this stage which would be better used in the general election against the well-funded Republican incumbent.

http://energyjusticesummer.org/candidate-katie-mcginty-the-environmentalist-for-fracking-fact-sheet/
– After DEP, McGinty went to work as Senior Vice President and Managing Director, Strategic Growth at Weston Solutions, Inc., a gas industry consulting firm and member of the Marcellus Shale Coalition, enjoying the revolving door open to regulators among companies they are supposed to oversee. (McGinty’s LinkedIn Profile)

- McGinty more recently has worked for the shale gas industry as a business partner of Ed Rendell’s at Element Partners, which provides investment capital to shale gas industry start-ups. (“Keystone XL Influence Peddling Web Extends into PA Governor’s Race Via Katie McGinty” -DeSmogBlog)

– When McGinty ran for governor in 2014, she hired Mike Mikus to be her campaign manager. Mikus is a V. P. of IES Solutions, an energy consulting firm that represents the Colorado Oil & Gas Association and he is Executive Director for Consumer Energy Alliance’s Mid-Atlantic region which supports drilling on public lands. (http://www.solutions-ies.com/, “CEA Applauds Approval of Marcellus Shale Production on Airport Land by Allegheny County Council” -CEA)

– The gas industry donated $72,500 to Katie McGinty’s gubernatorial campaign in 2013-14. A new study finds a 47% increase in campaign donations from the natural gas industry to Pennsylvania politicians in the 2013-2014 election cycle (over 2011-2012). Lobbying expenditures reached $17.9 million, up $2.1 million from the previous two-year cycle. (“How Gas Drillers Rented Pennsylvania’s Government” – MarcellusMoney.org)

When McGinty served as the top environmental protection chief in 2007, she came under fire after Republicans found out she’d given grants to the group for which her husband consulted — AKA making her man some cash. That kind of stuff doesn’t fly anymore. An Ethics Commission ruled that secretaries shouldn’t have a role in grants that’d make their spouses money. Sort of a mini
Hillary/state department/Clinton Foundation/arms deals scenario.

Anti-fracking activists have some beef with McGinty because she was on a 2011 U.S. energy panel that endorsed fracking and because she opposed a call from the State Democratic Committee in 2012 to halt fracking.