Another November horse-race poll. Why do they even bother? I guess because blogs like this one will breathlessly report them, even though they’re meaningless.

“Sestak’s numbers are almost certain to rise when his name recognition does.” I wouldn’t be so sure of that. Name recognition isn’t always a favorable thing. Especially when it’s linked to impropriety.

Sestak to know him is to hate him.

I agree that Sestak’s name recognition will improve, but Specter will running tons of negative ads about Sestak, too.

I can almost see them now (in Black and White for negative ads): “Joe Sestak the most votes missed in Congress (insert qualifier). The people of Pennsylvania deserve someone working for them every day. Arlen has worked…blah, blah, blah”

In union towns: “Sestak claims he supports working families and a living wage, but pays members of his (congressional) staff less than minimum wage (graphic with $/hour figures). Arlen has voted to help working families (insert pictures of families) by not only supporting minimum wage increases, but practicing what he preached with his own employees.”

or this: “Sestak claims he’s so outraged by Arlen’s (30) years of votes that he running for Senate. But in all that time, he wasn’t outraged enough to lick a stamp on an envelope or call to complain about a single vote. Arlen’s been a passionate fighter for Pennsylvanians all his life. Actions speak louder than words”

The ads just write themselves.

Of course the most fun commercial would be to have a room with dozens of young, bright looking people who are all former Sestak staffers.

David Diano-

I’m liking the ad ideas.

SUPERSESTAK

Intelligent voters cannot fathom why
Representative Sestak remains in this race. They are unawar that Sestak can utter the magic word (Shazam!) and become SUPERSESTAK! SUPERSESTAK – a man who can surmount a 24% deficit in the polls, and overcome the huge fundraising advantage of his primary opponent! SUPERSESTAK – a man so powerful, he can defeat the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) and even the President of the United States! SUPERSESTAK – a legend in his own increasingly deluded mind.

Dave how do you think the Sestak adds pointing out Arlens support for 30 years of Republican policies will play out, there are still millions of women who won’t vote for him just because of the way he treated Anita Hill at the Clarence Thomas hearings, or how he helped pack the Supreme Court with right wing ideologues,or his support for the Reagan,Bush,Bush tax cuts for the wealthy? I think Arlens record will out him. I do remember when he campaigned for Rick Santorum how they claimed they had saved military bases in Pa. yet when I looked the Navy Yard in Phila was closed,the Frankford Arsonal was closed,the defense supply agency was closed,and the willow grove NAS was being closed. He is a liar. Too bad you would rather support a 90 year old Republican with bad health who pays a staffer solely because he is the worst squash player in the world and allows Arlen to beat him.

TD – I was really surprised to find that Dave has changed the spelling of his last name to “A DINO.” In this race, he is a Democrat in Name Only, refusing to pledge his vote to the primary winner.
I agree with you, by the way – once Democratic primary voters discover that they can vote for a real Democrat instead of the fake one that propped up Reagan, Bush I and Bush II, I think they’ll get excited about backing Joe. May can’t come soon enough!

True Dem-
Sestak’s negative ads against Specter will hurt Specter more for the General election against Toomey. Specter’s been re-elected 3 times since Anita Hill. Let it go. (Besides the treatment of female staff at Sestak’s district office balances the Anita Hill charge against Specter.)
We aren’t in a cold war. The military budget is out of control. I would cut the military budget in half and remove ALL the mercenary contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan. I’d turn those bases into factories producing wind, solar and other green technologies for all the government building in the country.
Specter is 80, not 90. I have no doubt that Arlen could beat me at squash if I tried my hardest.
Sestak is completely unfit to serve in public office. Keep your eyes on the news this week.

Bruce-
There is no way that I consider Sestak to be a real Democrat. He’s the fake Democrat in this race. I think he’s more like Lieberman. A conservative war-hawk that got his start being elected in the Democratic party.

Specter is now a Democrat. He’s been endorsed by everyone from the bottom to the very top. He’s despised by the GOP (the real badge of honor).

Toomey, FoxNews and the GOP love Sestak. He’s damaging the President and calling out the leadership of the Democratic party (more than the hypocrisy of the GOP).

Sestak’s been a cancer on the 7th district, failing to help enough local candidates and draining $3 million from the 7th-CD re-election coffers for an ill-fated (and incompetently run) Senate bid.

Dave, how can you consider Specter a real democrat? I know that the left is inclusive of cross dressers and transvestites. Specter having gone from Dem to Repub and back to Dem fits that politically descriptive analogy perfectly. The guy is a phony. He looks like Bernie in Weekend at Bernie’s, and the pall makes him look even less crdible, if that is possible. The guy stands for nothing but himself.

I am a native of Lawrence county, and I called Sen. Spectors Pittsburgh office to address concerns that has affected Americans including myself in China, and was direct to the Erie office. However, when I explained in detail about my concerns that is not only affecting me, but many more Americans.

The exectutive director of Sen. Spectors office told me that I lost my U.S. citizenship because I have lived outside the U.S. for more than 2 years. I then tried to explain to her that was not correct, and she explained more in what appeared to be aggitated. I then asked her if I lost my citizenship what other country can I get citizenship. She did not look into my complaint and did not realize that I was born in the U.S. and have only traveled outside the U.S. as an adult. I explained what a great Sen. John Cornyn was in his district when addressing cocnerns. She then told me “well good and go back there”, and hung the phone up. I emailed the D.C. office and basically was insulted because of the lame excuse someone from the office provided. I can share my emails with people.

We need to stop voting for people just because they have been in office for many years. I believe they should put a cap on all Senate and Congressional seats to only a 4 year term. Why is our economy so bad if many of our elected officials were termed? I have the up most respect for Senator Spector, but my experience with the Erie office has changed my view in how I will vote.

Upon my return I will address my concerns about the was I was treated and all Sen. Spector had to do was to send a letter of inquiry. To date they have never sent me a letter stating that we are unable to look into your inquiry.

Thank God for the Chinese justice system…I eventually lodged my complaint to the courts and it went to the high court here, and the courts ruled in my favor. This could have been avoided if only Sen. Spector took my complaint serious, or had competent, and professional staff.

I am researching who I will suport, but for sure it will not be Sen. Spector:-( I’m in the process of a grass organization to vote against Sen. Spector and Cong. Altmire for Americans residing abroad…since it’s clear that they do not get involved with issues outside our borders based on my experience. For those of you who are in the military and or residing outside our borders think twice before you vote for them as they will not provide you assistance. I’m confused as to why the G20 summit was held in Pittsburgh since the view of some elected officals in Western Pennsylvania is that we do not get involved in…I have email to support my above comments.

Respectfully,
Dana

Dave are you going to apply to Spectors staff he’s always looking for a ringer to lose to him,no doubt he pays more to his staff He is a Senator with a Senator budget. Comparing Senate staff salaries to Congressional staff saleries is like apples and oranges. I’m almost 60 and have no doubt I could kick his ass up and down, but then I don’t beat up on sick 100 year old men,even if they are republicans.

95 South
There are no real Democrats on the ballot. Toomey and Sestak are completely unacceptable. Specter is competent and can do the job. It’s not that difficult a decision.

true dem-
Specter’s 80. Not 90. Not 100. He’s going to kick the ass of a former Admiral who’s almost 60.
I couldn’t beat my 300+ brother at racquetball when I was in my 20′s. So, I’m sure that Specter could beat me at squash without breaking a sweat.

Toomey will win, based on consevative state and Spector’s tenure needing to be put to rest. New faces are what Washington is all about now and conservative faces, very conservative faces, ooba ooba ooba, yo heave ho, oh oh

Brett- What state is conservative? Pennsylvania is trending blue. That means that while the occasional race may see a conservative win in statewide races, we’ll still see fairly middle of the road and liberal Republicans win along with Democrats. And the Democrats are facing gains in the future. Conservatives are a dwindling minority in our state and the country. One or two races won’t change the overall trends.

Specter will whoop Sestak’s but in the primary! Sestak is an egomaniac only interested in himself. Are the people in his district better off than they were before he won in 2006? Clearly not. Specter has fought hard for the people of this state. Sestak’s campaign is in turmoil and falling apart.

Just today, a co-worker was telling me about some serious federal violations that Sestak is involved with. Sestak and some labor organization. It seemed to closely mirror what this “Hater” had been saying.

You know – if you hear something from enough sources…

Obviously Specter is the clear choise.

Brett-
Toomey’s not a new face in Washington. He’s an old face. He’s one of the Republicans that torn down Glass-Steagall and put Wall St. over Main St.

ChescoDem-
There is no doubt about the state of Sestak’s campaign.
The charges that Hater made will see the light of day (proven or disproven) in the coming days or weeks. The claim is that Sestak has been under scrutiny for the better part of a year by the FBI. Whether or not they are investigating (or found enough to charge him with) has probably been mostly completed either way at this point. So, nothing Hater or I or you say at this point is going to change that.

At this point, it’s up to the FBI to show their cards when they are ready, or for professional journalists to break the story.

I’m convinced enough for myself personally that there is a story here, but I don’t pretend that should be enough for anyone else to draw a conclusion. However, I do think that it’s enough for Sestak’s defenders to pause before digging themselves in any deeper.

LOL Dino Dave the FBI? Now you have the FBI investigating what you erroneosly call below minimum wage violations? You do know that is not a function of the FBI don’t you. First you need someone with standing to make the charge then if there were any possibilty of the charge being true it would propwrly be under the perview of the Dept. of Labor, not the FBI. Are you and Hater in the same mental hospital?

David, UH OH, I just read in the Inquirer that NOW will endorse Sestak. No meaning to me, but as an observer, very interesting. Specter is not appealing to the ladies!!!!!

true dem-
I’m talking about FBI investing something else completely: accusations of campaign finance violations.
The minimum wage issues required no investigation, just prosecution and a MASSIVE fine.

95 south-
Specter beats Sestak among women in the latest poll by a BIGGER margin than with men.

David, Pa is a conservative state, outside of Philadelphia and the Montco burbs. Plus it has shifted this direction, because of the rough economy, people are angrier and less tolerant of giving any more of their hard earned money away in taxes or entitlements.

Of course the minimum wage issue reqires investigation, should be completed around Dec. 2011, As for campaign finance violations, commonplace unsustanted charges such as that are no in the perview of the FBI either,more likely would be a FEC investigation, not FBI.You really don’t understand this stuff do you Dino. BTW Sestak can spend his entire 5M and climbing war chest on the Primary,while Arlen must save some to compete against his fellow republican Toomey.

true dem-
My understanding is that the FBI is investing the case as union racketeering and bribery of a public official. So, the beyond the FEC violation, is the motivation for the violation. It was the FBI, not the FEC that raided Weldon’s offices in 2006.
YOU really don’t understand this stuff do you, true dem?

I understand you are spinning your wheels over things you have no knowledge of. Just more baseless supposition from you and your alter-ego hater. You are one and the same person aren’t you?

Hey true democrat, let’s get a latte together, it is time for you for that coffee break