On the Issues: Presidential Candidate Joe Sestak

“That’s where I think it’s a real difference, that you actually have somebody running that can actually win a Republican district nearly 2 to 1 without spending a dime on a campaign.”

Joe Sestak, who announced his presidential bid on June 23rd, enters the field with a range of experience, having served as a Vice Admiral in the United States Navy, a member of the House of Representatives, and an insurgent Senate candidate in 2010. Congressman Sestak represented what was then Pennsylvania’s seventh congressional district from 2007 to 2011. During his time in the House he was voted “The Most Productive Member of Congress,” and the National Journal named him the ideological center of the House. He narrowly lost the 2010 Senate race in Pennsylvania, after defeating Arlen Specter in the primary. In that primary, Congressman Sestak faced opposition from a number of prominent Democrats, including then-President Barack Obama. He joins Merion West and John George to discuss how his time in the military has informed his view of foreign policy, grassroots campaigning, and his long-standing commitment to addressing cancer, given that his daughter has suffered from the disease.

Congressman, thank you for joining us. You’ve had extensive military experience, and you were a Vice Admiral in the United States Navy and were at the heart of the Navy’s anti-terrorism effort following September 11th. What would you say are some of the biggest lessons from your Naval career that are informing how you approach foreign policy and national security?

There are three principles that—during my time in service of our nation—I truly believe are extraordinarily important to keep in mind. Part of the reason I’m running is because so few have that kind of experience. The very first is: America’s greatest power is its power to convene: to bring together nations and peoples of the world for a common cause that serves us all. That’s how we won the “Third World War” of the last century: the Cold War, without a shot. Then, there are lessons from my military experience—like arriving in the Arabian Sea, to beginning the strikes against Afghanistan by my aircraft carrier. That was an international armada. The Minister of Defense said, “We are here because America has been attacked, and we will be here for them.” The United States convened the world in organizations from NATO to the United Nations to the World Trade Organization, the International Monetary Fund, to where we brought the world together to our collective good so that we can prevent wars. And that is the overarching, number one lesson. That’s our greatest power. And today we’re retreating from the world, and that’s why it’s so harmful to our American dream because it’s not protected.