Wait till they start hitting him with the NRA gun commericals. It will be a turkey shoot out west. Joe shouldnt have burned bridges with everyone. Shows how much he knows.

The Club for Growth thinks Barry Goldwater was a liberal.

The Club for Growth thinks William F. Buckley was too moderate.

The Club for Growth thinks Attila the Hun was a bit too progressive.

The Club for Growth and Pat Toomey have worked tirelessly to purge the Republican party of any centrists or moderates, so that it only answers to their far-right fringe element.

To the right-wing crazies at Club for Growth, we’re ALL liberals.

Bruce-
The reality is that with Obama’s numbers down, and the weakness in the economy, Toomey is able to take advantage of the electorate’s lack of long-term memory. The plan is to say the Dems spent all their money and claim things aren’t any better. (Ignoring the crash that would have occurred otherwise.)

Toomey’s got a treasure-trove of stuff from Sestak’s primary campaign (trying to run to the Left) that will be devastating in a General election. Sestak’s statements about the stimulus should have been bigger and how he would be Obama’s greatest ally in Congress may have played well with some primary Dems. However, Toomey’s going to use that as a stake-through-the-heart against Sestak in the General.

Sestak’s trying to portray himself as a “pragmatic independent”.

Unfortunately, the translation is: “Someone who looks out for himself and goes the way the wind blows.”

Toomey is running against Obama-Pelosi with Joe playing the role of a surrogate for them.

so what? did you expect anything different…no ideas from toomey or his supporters just name calling…great way to lead

Politicians with integrity like Joe can be PROUD of having enemies like these corporate shills.

No one with any political savvy claimed that Toomey and his handlers are dumb. What they are is ultra extreme and smart enough to know that Sestak and the Dems are coming after Toomey for being such an extremist.

So, instead of waiting to be put on the defensive, they are attempting to pre-empt the extremist attack against Toomey by first labeling Sestak, inaccurately, as a far leftist. They will be content to create the false impression that both candidates are to the extremes of their respective parties because that would largely negate the Dems effort to brand Toomey as the extremist he actually is.

As for the claims that Obama and the Dems are responsible for the sluggish economy, the Dems have to get off the defense. It’s a simple and demonstrative fact that the small number of private sector jobs gained under Obama is a whole lot better than the huge number of jobs lost under Bush and the Republicans.

Sure the economy is not recovering fast enough; but that’s not for lack of Democratic vision, plans and programs. It’s because the Republicans have fought these fixes every step of the way and because the economic problems they created were so much worse than anyone could have imagined.

Lee-
Of course Sestak isn’t far-Left, but that’s how he portrayed himself during the campaign to beat Specter. Sestak has already painted himself into that corner, and Toomey’s going to bury him there.

As for Republican obstructionism hurting the economy and preventing additional recovery steps, you are dead on. Unfortunately, most voters just can’t understand something that subtle in this climate.

David

You identified pecisely the challenge for the Dems: communicating to those voters who have only a limited or fleeting interest in how we got into this ecomonic mess and why it isn’t getting fixed faster. Sometimes the only opportunities available are those classic bumper sticker slogan moments.

My point is that Dems would be better off taking the offense instead of leaning back on their heels and waiting for the Rs to throw punches. Whether an easier or more difficult political climate has prevailed, Dems have been too passive in their governance and in their campaigns. The Rs often, and currently, have demonstrated a superiority in getting their message across – however misleading and dangerous it may be.

Lee-
I agree about taking the offense and putting the blame on the Republicans. Unfortunately, I don’t think there is time to turn around public opinion, especially with it looking like there is going to be an increase in the unemployment numbers shortly before the election.

Still blowing hot air Dave?

I have to agree with David that most voters are not going to understand what Toomey stands for, and that his smear campaign and underhanded tactics will work.

Its very sad that in today’s environment someone like Toomey, who was a derivatives trader, could be beat a former naval commander. Character, or lack of it, is really not understood by the electorate.

Its also unfavorable that Toomey will be bring tons of cash in from the Club for Growth, Freedom Works and other ultra right wing groups.

Toomey’s friend, Paul Singer, just handed over $131K to Toomey’s campaign. SInger is a Wall Street hedge fund operator who is raising billions for those who will protect Wall Street wealth.

exposing toomers extreme positions and beliefs will help DEMS close enthusiasm gap because it will energise the base.

I agree with sick. Let’s not roll over and play dead quite yet. The national media has forecast a Dem debacle at the polls in November and is doing all that it can to make that prediction come true so that they look smart.

Discouraging as that may be, Dems can keep the majority in the Senate and probably even in the House. Governorships and state legislative seats are critical because of the decenial redistricting which will occur due to this year’s census. Some of these races (including Sestak’s) are winnable.

Lee-
Nate Silver at FiveThirtyEight is currently predicting 80% chance that the Dems have at least 50 seats.

He’s also predicting 88% chance that Toomey wins, and that was just BEFORE the F&M poll came out that reinforced the Rasmussen poll.

In this case Winnable = Longshot.
Short of Toomey getting caught in bed with a hooker, it’s looking pretty unlikely.

The whole race depends on Sestak getting a BIG turnout in SE PA and winning Allegheny county with Pittsburgh.

Among the DEMS:
Philly simply isn’t going to have high turnout this election. For the May primary, their turnout was 24% vs 27% statewide. That’s despite Specter’s Philly roots, Sestak’s pushing the liberal base, and Anthony Williams on the ticket.

Black turnout is going to be even lower, without Specter and Williams.

Allegheny county was 31% Dem turnout, but Pittsburgh was only 29%.

Toomey, Corbett and Onorato are pro-gun, pro-NRA. They are going to do much better that Sestak in the rest of the state, where the gun issue is important.

Sestak’s managed to overcome long odds twice before, but both cases were against longstanding incumbents with tarnished reputations (FBI raid and a GOP-> Dem conversion).

Unless Joe can make the unemployment number go down 0.5% (instead of the expected 0.5% increase) right before the election, he’s going to be joining the ranks of the unemployed (until he gets a lobbying job at a defense contractor).

Toomey’s been running stuff very early in the race and his numbers are also the early numbers. He’s had no competition and no-one has really come after him. The various polls give the false impression that this is all over and discourages Dem voters, but I suspect Toomey’s support is not that strong. True, this is an uphill battle for Sestak and for all Dems, but if he has the money to run the ads and, a even bigger if, if the dems can turn out their voters all is not lost for Sestak. I think the public is waiting for the Dems to fight back. Labor Day the tradtional start of the campaign season is still a week away, and after that there’s 8 weeks to blast the public. Sestak is well within striking range but he has to crank things up pretty quickly.

Why would we vote for Sestak, after his voting record? He does have a record!

“…he has to crank things up pretty quickly.”

This again.

We went through this in the primary and I am certain that we’ll go through it this fall, too. I would think that by now Sestak has established that he and his advisors DO know something about running a campaign, timing, advertising, and when it’s best to go to war against a well-regarded opponent.

I won’t advise Team Sestak here, and I’d caution anyone else who feels they know more than the campaign about strategy. I think they’ve proved that they know what they’re doing.

Questioning-
Sestak’s apparently trying to hide from his record by campaigning as “Admiral” rather than “Congressman”.
This weekend I saw the latest T-shirts from the campaign.
The front of the T-shirt just has the word “Admiral”.
The back has Admiral Sestak running for Senate and the date of the election.

Considering that Sestak’s official title is “Retired Admiral”, this is another example of Joe using his military service as a prop.

It’s “very liberal” to say that the stimulus should have spent more. It also happens to be, economically speaking, correct.

David —

You keep accusing Joe Sestak of being awful, by doing things typical politicians do. No incumbent Congressmen run with the word “Congress” attached to them. It’s because people *hate* Congress.

And you know what? Joe Sestak has every right to call himself Admiral, because that’s a title he earned. As long as he’s not lying, I think he has the right to call himself whatever he wants.

You wouldn’t address him as “Retired Admiral Sestak;” the appropriate form of address is still “Admiral Sestak.”

Dumb Ad against Sestak.

Almost too Easy for Sestak –

1) Toomey wants to Privatize your Social Security in the Stock Market with the Corrupt Wall Street Banks.

2) Toomey wants to Repeal Healthcare – he wants you to be – Denied Insurance if you have a Pre-Existing Condition – like Cancer, Diabetes, Heart problems, – or leave your College Age Child With NO Health Insurance.

Toomey Bad for Seniors and Sick People.

Just heard the latest ad bashing Sestak-amateurish. we also will be hearing lots of toomers record…that will seal the election for sestak-u heard it here first

Transplant and Isaac-
There was a discussion about this a while back during the primary about how Sestak was supposed to be addressed or introduced by reporters, and the “official” way to refer to him according to military protocol.
My recollection is that the word “retired” belonged. Part of the reason may be to avoid confusion, because you can’t have active military personnel engaging in politics, and the word “retired” clarifies it.
I believe the official designation is: Vice Admiral (Ret.)

As for Sestak, I think the evidence (both the reporting by the Navy Times, and Sestak’s behavior since leaving the military) demonstrated that Sestak is a disgrace when it comes to his treatment of “underlings” and the Admiral Mullen was right to sack him and push him out of the Navy. Plenty of local political people in his district have come to realize he’s untrustworthy, in it for himself, and willing to step over (and betray) his political allies.

There are some Vets who DO like that Sestak touts his military background, but there are other Vets who feel that Sestak is disrespecting the service by using it as a prop for political gain.

Al-
The argument the GOP is making is
1) that massive national debt means social security is going broke
2) that the healthcare bill will make rates rise, doctors quit, and destroy the health care system

and that the Dems are breaking this, and the GOP/conservative philosophy is needed.

Now, I don’t agree with that. However, the counter arguments you make just won’t penetrate the minds of people that are fearful and influenced by conservative arguments.

sick-
Never underestimate the power of “dumb”.

Maybe its just me but this he’s a liberal has been said so may times it is becoming white noise.