Friday morning, both Sen. Arlen Specter (newly D - PA), and Rep. Joe Sestak (D-PA), Specter's challenger for the Democratic nomination spoke at Netroots Nation. Full disclosure: I support Joe Sestak. They spoke to us about issues ranging from the current debate in Congress about health care, Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy of the military and equality for GLBT Americans, climate change, stem cell research, Specter's recent party switch and Sestak's relative lack of political experience.

What caught my attention most in this debate was the issue of health care. Sen. Spector came out swinging for a strong public option. He pointed out that he has already held four town hall meetings - and as we know, the right wing nutjob base has been doing its best to disrupt his meetings - and committed to voting for the President's health care reform. So, what's the catch? As Joe Sestak pointed out, a mere eight weeks ago, Arlen Specter was square set against it:



Hmm, I wonder what changed his mind so fast. A few interesting events that have happened along the same time line: Joe Sestak started speculating about a run, he decided to run, and his poll numbers, against Specter, started to rise. I am sure there was no correlation whatsoever.

Joe Sestak stayed committed to a vibrant public option since the beginning, and he reiterated it. As he put it, as a retired Admiral in the navy, he and his family have had the best health care. And guess what? It's a government-run, public health care plan called the Veterans Administration. Sestak passionately made the case that every American deserves the same choice to buy into a public option.