In Pennsylvania, it's the Admiral Vs. the Firefighter

The military is the institution in our society that best reflects the values of the Democratic Party," says retired Vice Admiral Joe Sestak, the Democratic candidate for Congress in Pennsylvania's Seventh District. This is a wonderful, underutilized political technique, the "Huh? Tell me more!" statement. And the small gathering of neighbors in Barbara and Charles Blum's Hershey's Mill living room is all ears. Sestak explains that the military provides universal health-care coverage and substantial educational benefits—"I was able to get a Ph.D. from Harvard," he says—and it has also been a...