It will take more than just a good candidate to win the general against Toomey – it will take a good campaign, too.

There is unorthodox and there is incompetent. Millions of dollars worth of valuable Democratic donations are being funneled into a rudderless campaign.
Sestak won the first campaign in a DEM year, with Casey and Rendell coordinating voter turnout and lots of hard work by the local party. Sestak won in 2008, because his opponent had no money, and the Delco GOP, and candidates like Meehan, were afraid to face his fundraising advantage with a serious campaign.

If Sestak thinks Specter is a “clone” of Toomey, then he needs two dictionaries. One to read, and one to knock him upside the head.

Dan, try a follow up question to ask how many potential campaign managers they’ve interviewed in the past 5 months.

I think it was “Lana” who posted here that Sestak had been rejected by professional managers they’ve interviewed. Price and campaign-style are two likely reasons to reject him. A third would be they don’t want to back a losing candidate.

I know that I spoke to a manager for another area campaign. He complained that Sestak low-balls on salary and quality people aren’t interested. He cited a friend of his that approached the campaign for a field position. Sestak was offering something like the equivalent of $23,000 per year. According this person, campaign salaries are typically discussed as weekly salaries, not annual. Dividing by 52, we get $440/week for what’s going to be 60-70 hours. Basically, Sestak isn’t offering minimum wage.

Suzie Madrak, a total Netroots, Lefty, Progressive gal, wrote on her blog that back in 2006 Sestak wanted her to work for him as the campaign spokesperson for FREE. Pretty insulting, but it shows how Sestak values people (who are not blood related).

This is absurd. Sestak has all of his relatives hired…. those are the only good paying ones he creates it seems.

If Representative Sestak had opted to recruit genuine professionals (as opposed to his ill-qualified family members) perhaps the crisis he is currently facing would never have unfolded. Of course, it is merely a manifestation of Sestak’s self-destructive tendencies – the same tendencies that resulted in his expulsion from the armed forces. The same tendencies that will result in the utter ruination of his short-lived political career.

And David – bear in mind once again that Representative Sestak can use his campaign funds for legal defense. Perhaps the ongoing campaign can serve a larger purpose.

Hey HateSestak,

Readers of pa2010.com know that I am loathe to stymie any kind of conversation. But I will kindly submit here that you’ve made your point in implying Sestak faces some undisclosed legal problem.

Until you have something more to offer, I think it’s appropriate to ask that you keep your comments just a bit more focused on the subject matter covered in these stories.

Don’t get me wrong; I appreciate everyone’s role in providing the rich back-and-forth we enjoy here at pa2010.com. But even for elected officials, there’s a line I think we should try not to cross when it comes to unsubstantiated innuendo.

I hope we’ll continue to see you in our comments section. Please don’t ever hesitate to e-mail me anytime at editor@pa2010.com if you’d like to discuss this further.

Thanks

Dan Hirschhorn

Dan-
I agree that Hater needs to substantiate his claims. In another thread, I suggested that he contact you directly under reporter/source confidentiality.
Glad to see you taking po9nt on this.

What is Sestak’s relationship with Cair? just heard some things about this, does anyone know?

In 2007, one of Joe staffers (who had a CAIR connection) booked Joe to speak at their event in April 2007.
The anti-Islamic/anti-Muslim racist crowd was all over it, calling CAIR a terrorist front group, etc. Joe took a lot of heat for it. (For the record, I backed Joe, and went after the racists).

Here is a thought. Why should any campaign hire a bunch of high priced professionals when those professionals lose fifty percent of the time?

I look down the list of professional consultants on all these campaigns and they are all familiar names and none of them have perfect records and quite a few are perennial losers.

If what you want from your campaign team is an anchor to your true self versus some manufactured self, then having good friends and family around seems like the best idea.

Just a wild thought here, but if Coakley loses in MA and the Dems drop down to 59 votes, could the Democrats abandon Specter for Sestak? Without the super-majority anymore, Specter would be expendable and since his numbers suck, why not put all the resources behind Sestak? The Democrats look to hold the Senate seat in CT because Dodd dropped out and a new Dem came in, so why not throw Specter to the wolves? Besides, what’s he going to do, caucus with the GOP again?

Sestak has a great deal of money already. I take from this story that putting “all the resources behind Sestak” may be unwise because Sestak is not putting the resources he has now to strategic use.

Larry-

It would be foolish to throw the skipper overboard… and be stuck with gilligan. That wouldnt be in the best interest of Pennsylvania.

GOP Hawk-
1) That 50/50 thinking is why the GOP is so weak on science and other endeavors. Just because there’s only one winner, doesn’t mean that some professionals don’t have a 70/30 record.
2) Often it’s the candidate, or the Dem/Rep ratio, not the campaign pros.

Larry-
If you take the $5 million Sestak has and spread it out over our 10 toughest/closest Senate races, Specter could be our 63rd Senator. Sestak would be happy to be the 48th, just to have the seat.

Matt-
Exactly. He’s just not ready. You can’t run a statewide campaign, like a Mom & Pop shop.

WestDem-
All of Thurston Howell’s money wouldn’t make Sestak a better candidate.

Appears this man has been out to sea much too long. I live in the 7th CD but right now I am busy in Mass doing the Lord’s work with the right wing nut jobs that are just spreading lies about Stoakly. How dare this man try running for the Senate when he has only been in the house with a very poor record. I have been a lifelong Democtat and I will work against him and all his family on the payroll. No Campaign manager, no win. It is as simple as that. Just talk to his staffer’s, they hate him. He goes through staffer’s as I go through shoe’s !

What a SOB this man is. The coordinator in MA asked him for some help but the coordinator never heard a word from him. That was a very east request but Joe couldn’t even do that ! I now have another reason to hate him. I am handicapped and even I was able to help out, buy not this selfish moron. If only I could vote against him several times, I sure would. Believe me he is not a Democrat The Republicans don’t want him either and that is pretty bad. Joe should get a real job but that would mean he would have to be there and work. Love to see that since that is something he has never done in his adult life. Lived off the Navy for 31 years and finished with 3 years in Congress. The man is a loser and must be defeated.
Never thought I would say it but GO, Specter !

The Specter campaign is helping out. They are doing GOTV calling out of Harrisburg.

Once Coakley wins, she should come to Pennsylvania and help Specter.

David, how about this new math?
Sestak and his team are not 50%, 60% or 70%. They have won one hundred percent of the time that he has been in an election. Besides, we all know that Shanin Specter is and always has been the real strategist behind his father since his first winning statewide run. It says so in Arlen’s book. And Arlen did not have his current streak until Shanin got involved. Again, it says so in Arlen’s book.
Non-family consultants do not have such a great comparative track record, do they?
Ergo hoc, propter hoc.

GOP Hawk-
1) They have won 0% at the state level.
2) In 2006, Bill Walsh, not Richard Sestak, was the campaign manager.
3) In 2006, Sestak was pretty much even against Weldon in fundraising. In 2008, he was against underfunded opponent and had Obama driven Dem turnout. Specter will probably have 2:1 advantage in funds.
4) The FBI isn’t likely to raid Specter’s office before the primary.
5) The best campaign staffers have left the Sestak “ship”.
6) Having family “consultants” is different than having a professional staff manage the campaign on a daily basis.
7) The GOP is too eager in it’s support of Sestak. Clearly, they view Sestak as the more vulnerable to Toomey.

I think its utterly ridiculous for Sestak not to help Coakley. Very selfish. Glad to see Specter helping out.

“But I will kindly submit here that you’ve made your point in implying Sestak faces some undisclosed legal problem.”

Alas, David, Representative Sestak himself appears reluctant to confront reality. Cognitive dissonance, you understand. By broaching the subject in this and other forums, we give Representative Sestak no alternative but to accept the empiricial facts. In reality, his destiny lies in a federal prison (alongside some corrupt union chieftains), not the U.S. Senate. We must force him to deal with this reality. Besides, I do so enjoy tormenting him…

Hater-
I think David has a point here.
What “reality” are you referring to?

Hater-
Dan wasn’t agreeing that you’ve convinced anybody of Sestak being in legal trouble. He was saying that you made the point, that it’s what YOU believe.
You STILL haven’t backed it up.

Your latest statement has upped the ante on your accusations. There are plenty of campaign illegalities that would result in merely a penalty, not not imprisonment.

If he was getting donations, that are not on the books, that would be serious, but I’m not seeing that.

Unless he was using funds to run an underage brothel, I don’t really see any jail time.

Hater seems willing to line to vitiate his hatred. So why doesn’t he just change his screen name to “Liar”? Unsubstantiated character assassination = fictionalizing = lying.

I am thinking since Joe managed a battle group with a few dozen ships including a superpower-projecting nuclear armed aircraft carrier, worked in the White House under the Democratic wonkaholics and workaholics of them-all The Clintons, ran a Congressional campaign and won…that he has significant credentials and career options (regardless of his somewhat seemingly abusive and self-destructive management style). He understands prosecution of wars and he understands the beltway mentality of self-=preservation and survival of the “fittest”. The Senate run against on again/off again/on again now-Democrat Arlen Specter is a bold power-projecting move for him. From a purely career perspective he’s acting like a 3-star admiral…win battles to win the war, and take no prisoners. If he wins…what a story to live. If he loses, he has serious options with an interesting story to tell. So what does he have to lose?

one more thought…Neil Oxman’s group will no doubt produce some commercials and messaging that will eat thru Specter’s who-am-I and who-did-I-vote-along-with-for-several-decades complexion like battery acid. Specter knows the stakes and understands there are approx. 10 counties in the State he needs to win the majority of Dem voters in the primary.

AdventureGuru – you make some excellent points, especially the one about Sestak having plenty of career options. That’s one of the things I like about his campaign against Specter – he’s doing it because he _wants to_ and because he thinks it’s the right thing to do. Someone needed to step up, or else no way Specter would be voting as much with the D’s as he is now. Sestak could have kept his House seat forever – 7th CD loves him – but he decided to take on Specter even though it is far from a sure thing. But if he loses, so what? He has pulled Specter into voting truly Democratic, at least for the duration of the campaign, and whatever happens Joe himself will always have opportunities. (And this bit some will say about him p*ssing off the Dem leadership? Don’t bet on it. Obama et al. know that Joe’s run is a good thing for Democrats.)

Anonymous-
The 7th CD may love him, but the feeling hardly seems mutual. Sestak’s been trying to get out of it, since he got in it.

AdventureGuru-
10 counties in the State? He’s going to lose Philly and Montco. Besides Delco, what counties could he win? I know he’s been pushing in Adams and York. Adams has less than 20,000 Dems and York is under 100,000, and less than half of them will be voting (and more than half of those will be voting for Specter).

Sestak’s got plenty of options as a lobbyist for defense contractors (like Blackwater or Haliburton). But, will that satisfy his ego? Having opportunities, but having them be plan B or C, isn’t always satisfying.
At least he’ll be able to stay at his home Virginia, and stop pretending that he lives in Delco.