Sestak, in Calif., calls for reason over ideology

Pennsylvania Democratic Rep. Joe Sestak, the party's nominee for Senate, Monday called for a new era of pragmatism in government to help restore public trust in American leadership.

In remarks prepared for delivery to the Commonwealth Club of California in San Francisco, Sestak said that it is time for reason, and clear "benchmarks," in formulating policy rather than ideology.

"We owe the public what any private investor could expect: concrete proposals, clear expectations, an honest accounting of costs, and straightforward assessment of the risks," Sestak said in the prepared remarks. "The American people don't want politics, they want a prospectus."

As examples of failed ideological government, Sestak cited what he called blind faith that prosperity would trickle down from an unregulated Wall Street and the belief that the "profit motive" would be enough to motivate oil companies such as BP to protect the environment.

Sestak, the upset winner of the May 18 primary over five-term veteran Sen. Arlen Specter (D.,Pa.), was invited to address the club on the political mood of the country.

The Commonwealth Club of California, founded in 1903, holds more than 400 speeches, panel-discussions and debates a year on the important issues of the day. It has been host to landmark speeches by Teddy Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Martin Luther King, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton and Bill Gates, among others.

Sestak faces Republican Pat Toomey, a former member of the U.S. House from the Lehigh Valley in the Nov. 2 general election for Senate. Sestak was scheduled to attend fundraisers while in California, his staff said, but no details were provided.