To us, he’s a Cute Boy Alert alumnus (and so much more); but to many, he was Pennsylvania’s next great progressive Senator. And who knows, he still could be. But it’d most likely have to be after Arlen Specter does whatever evil bidding he, the Democratic Party and Governor Ed Rendell have cooked up. Point is, Joe Torsella (pictured) is out of the Senate race, and that is a bittersweet thing indeed. On the upside, we can safely assume Philly gets Torsella back, whether it’s in the form of him staying on at the National Constitution Center or some other capacity — and Torsella’s already proven an amazing capacity to affect public good. But the downside is that, even though he stared the PA Dem Machine in the eye and has sagely said, “F this,” that only goes to prove how much we need a guy this clear-thinking:

“It’s clear to me that the kind of campaign this would become is not the kind of campaign I—or you—signed up for. It would probably be negative, personal, and more about Senator Specter’s past than our common future and that won’t do Pennsylvania any good.”

And he’s right. And that sucks. But like we said, Torsella’s story isn’t even halfway close to finished yet.

This entry was posted on Friday, May 15th, 2009 at 12:24 pm.