What you see is less than what you got?

The National Review Online finds what looks like a newspaper headline in Sestak's new ad to be a letter to the editor by a Sestak supporter. Jim Geraghty writes:

(Sestak's ad is) "...mostly a standard-issue biographical ad, with a bit of Top Gun–style footage of a younger Sestak on an aircraft carrier."

But the ad features a newspaper headline, "Sestak Works Hard to Create New Jobs." For an aspiring senator in this economic environment, that's about as good a headline as you can wish for, and I wondered which newspaper wrote that.

It turns out it's the headline on a letter to the editor in the Delaware County Daily Times; the letter writer shares the name of the chief attorney in the Philadelphia office of the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights.

Sestak gets challenger kicked off Primary ballot

From POLITICS PA:

UPDATED: Sestak knocks Vod Varka off ballot

By Alex Roarty
PoliticsPA Staff Writer
roarty@polilticspa.com

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Joe Vod Varka on Tuesday was kicked off the May 18 primary ballot after a petition challenge from fellow Democrat Joe Sestak, a move that could help the former Navy admiral defeat incumbent Arlen Specter but also leave him vulnerable to criticism over the hardball tactic.

A Commonwealth Court judge ruled that Vod Varka’s petition contained fewer than the 2,000 valid-signature threshold necessary for ballot placement, meaning a write-in campaign is his only option left.

Vod Varka’s campaign had been almost completely off the radar until he unexpectedly filed enough signatures, at the time at least, to be placed on the ballot. The Western Pennsylvania native’s platform consisted mostly of conservative ideas, such as lowering government spending and ending gun control laws, and he had drawn support from some “Tea Party” groups.

Although he was unlikely to receive more than a tiny slice of the total votes cast, Vod Varka’s removal from the ballot could help Sestak win a greater share of voters bent on voting out Specter.

But Sestak might also have opened himself up to criticism because his own campaign against Specter was built on the premise that Democratic voters deserved a choice in the primary. The Specter campaign had already called Sestak’s challenge “a vivid example of old style back-room politics as usual.”

UPDATE: Sestak attorney Manly Parks defended the petition challenge, saying the minimum-signature law was in place to make sure candidates who appeared on the ballot had sufficient support.

“We certainly believe it’s entirely appropriate and fair that every candidate demonstrate that they reach that threshold,” he told PoliticsPA. “Otherwise, you’re just creating exceptions for people not to have to comply with the elction code.”

Still, the Specter campaign criticized Sestak for Vod Varka’s removal and once again took aim at his staffers’ salaries, which has been one of the incumbent’s favorite issues this campaign.

“The people, specifically Democratic Primary voters, should have decided whether Mr. Vodvarka was worthy of support, not Joe Sestak and the court system,” said Specter camapign manager Chris Nicholas in a statement. “And Cong. Sestak was happy to pay big bucks to his lawyers to knock a regular guy like Joe Vodvarka off the ballot, but he’s not willing to pay the minimum wage to his own campaign employees.”

PA Dem Chair Chastises Sestak

Pennsylvania Democratic Chairman Rooney has asked Joe Sestak to:

• comply with minimum wage laws for his campaign employees
• address his attendance record on the House floor (the worst in the Pennsylvania delegation.)
  

In his letter to Sestak, Chairman Rooney also seems to hint that Joe should step aside:

"If you were to be successful in your primary campaign, you would be leading the Democratic ticket in this fall’s critical elections for state and local office. It is inconceivable to me that our standard bearer wouldn’t be paying his workers the minimum wage. Particularly at a time of deep recession, we can’t hand an issue like this to the Republicans or have the candidate leading our ticket being investigated for such violations.

Despite his far right background and terrible voting record on issues important to working families, Mr. Toomey will run a vigorous campaign for U.S. Senate in the fall. The recent Quinnipiac Poll has Mr. Toomey leading you 39 to 36 while Sen. Specter would defeat him 49 to 42.

The many House votes you’ve missed in the past year, so many that you now have the worst attendance record in our Congressional delegation, has also caused great anxiety among many Democrats and our allies.

It’s clear that while Senator Specter’s campaign has progressed and made significant progress – witness his winning our endorsement by a 77-23% vote -your campaign has not moved forward, as recent polls have demonstrated. Sen. Specter leads you by a decisive 53 to 29 margin in the Quinnipiac Poll."

Sestak challenges Vodvarka's petition

Chris Nicholas(Campaign Manager, Citizens for Arlen Specter)released the following statement this morning:

Subject: Specter campaign statement on Sestak's Challenge to Vodvarka's petition signatures

Earlier today in Commonwealth Court Democratic Senate candidate Cong. Joe Sestak challenged the validity of fellow Democratic Senate candidate Joseph Vodvarka's petition signatures.

"It‘s a Democratic Party, and in that Democratic Party, we should be enticing people to come into the process...” -Joe Sestak
(Main Line Media News 10/20/2009 http://sestak1.notlong.com)


Below is a statement from Specter campaign manager Christopher Nicholas:

"Cong. Sestak has spent months saying that his was a new type of campaign, dedicated to changing Washington, D.C. and the Senate. But challenging Mr. Vodvarka's petition signatures is a vivid example of old style back-room politics as usual.

And Cong. Sestak is happy to pay big bucks to lawyers to knock a regular guy like Joe Vodvarka off the ballot, but he's not willing to pay the minimum wage to his own campaign staff.

Once again Cong. Sestak's actions contradict his words.

Let's remember that Cong. Sestak is the same guy who was relieved of command in the Navy for the way he treated the folks who worked for him. Nothing's changed with this guy."

There are limits to frugality, unless you are Sestak

From The Morning Call:

Sestak pays his staff the least in Pennsylvania's Congressional delagation:

"He asks aides to work six days a week, 12-plus hours a day. Staff salaries are among the lowest on Capitol Hill, according to congressional records. No one in Pennsylvania's 19-member congressional delegation had a smaller payroll than Sestak in the 18-month period that ended June 30, records show, while only two members had larger staffs."

What does he do with the savings? Sounds like publicly financed campaigning to me:

"The money Sestak saves on staff salaries is in part devoted to constituent mailings and brochures highlighting his positions on issues. Sestak last year spent more on mail than anyone in the delegation."

Sestak Loses Campaign Staffers

In this pa2010.com piece the latest defections in Sestak's campaign staff are discussed.

"At least four staffers with significant political portfolios have left Congressman Joe Sestak’s (D-7) Senate campaign in recent weeks, potentially leaving the Democratic challenger at an organizational deficit just three months before the primary, pa2010.com has learned."

Perhaps some insiders see the futility of Sestak's campaign after the overwhelming affirmation of the State Committee last week. Apparently, they are also tired of being underpaid so that Joe can look like he has more cash available:

"even those who have left on good terms cite the low salaries as a key reason."