Sestak: White House Offered Job To Keep Me Out Of Race. White House Denies It.
So Joe Sestak says the White House offered him a job to keep him from running against Specter. That part doesn't surprise me; I imagine the White House did try to keep him out of the race. The part that's fascinating is that Sestak went public with it.
In politics, other politicians need to trust you - and your sense of discretion. Embarrassing the White House publicly probably isn't a good way to build relationships:
In the face of a White House denial, U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak stuck to his story yesterday that the Obama administration offered him a "high-ranking" government post if he would not run against U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter in Pennsylvania's Democratic primary.
A White House official "vociferously" denied his account yesterday as Sestak insisted on national television that he had told the truth, but declined for a second day to divulge details.
[...] Sestak made his startling claim Thursday during the taping of Comcast Network's Larry Kane: Voice of Reason, a public affairs show televised on Sunday evenings.
"Were you ever offered a federal job to get out of this race?" Kane asked near the end of the 30-minute interview.
"Yes," Sestak answered.
"Was it Navy secretary?" Kane asked.
"No comment," Sestak replied.
I don't often comment on this forum, but I have to think that there are a few things going on here:
1. Sestak has an ulterior motive for putting this out. It is self-serving.
2. WhiteHouse may be going with the 'devil that you know' theory and The WhiteHouse does not want to take any chances with Spector's seat.
it's getting harder to tell who
is actually telling the truth.
I've been giving money to Sestak and I live in California. My donations just stopped. If he was offered a private deal, he should take it or not but keep his mouth shut. What we don't need is Democrats blasting the president. Not now and certainly not over this kind of political bullshit.
Let's see...
- Obama has broken virtually every promise he made during the campaign
- he sent a TRILLION dollars to corrupt investment houses while totally ignoring the poor and unemployed
- he makes all sorts of backroom deals for the benefit of wealthy doctors and corporations
- he and his people constantly scheme to kill the candidacies of anyone who is even remotely to the left.
- he considers Joe LIEberman his personal mentor
Yeah, this guy should clearly be exempted from any criticism from Democrats.
1. It is self-serving, but he has a reputation for that already. Not that that is uncommon in people that want to be politicians and brass. /shrug I don't think he did as much diplomacy as, say Eisenhower, before switching career tracks. So he probably doesn't get this is "not part of the way it's played".
2. No doubt. And the ability to threaten Speter with being primaried by Sestak was quite useful in getting Specter to vote the way the Dem. establishment wanted. But he has been a good boy enough it seems that they are going to hold up their end and call Sestak off. As mentioned below Specter also has seniority and was allowed to keep it, making him more valuable than Sestak, if Specter behaves.
Someone didn't get the memo.
then he must not be the (R)ahmocrat the DLC is looking for.
OPENSECRETS.ORG has info that says Sestak is onto something! H e does NOT have the typical (R)ahmocrat resume.
Some stuff you can't make up!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkTQdEZbjQA
is intended to be a factual statement
mea culpa.
but one of them might be that the Democrats want to keep the seniority Specter has?
Sestak, if elected, would come into the Senate as a newbie and might get stuck on the Highway Maintenance Committee with Brown.
"The US has an army of 90,000 soldiers in Afghanistan and is spending $100bn a year, but has still been unable to defeat 20,000-25,000 Taliban who receive no pay at all." - Patrick Cockburn
LIEberman light. the (R)ahmocrats are cowards.
Some stuff you can't make up!
I honestly think that Spector is sincere.
he is excellent at political survival. that is the sum of his benefit to the people of Pa.
Some stuff you can't make up!
I was out walking the dogs the other night, and a guy on the corner, a tea-bagger, complained to me that the cops came around and threatened to give him a ticket for cleaning up the corner that people had to drive around, by taking his snow-blower and blowing all the snow into the road. From his point of view he was doing a good service for all the people. What he didn't realize, but what I say immediately, was that all that snow and slush he blew into the road was going to turn into a sheet of ice in about three hours and create a very dangerous situation for drivers and anyone walking along. I didn't say anything, because in the very red area I live in, you just have to be careful. I hope you get mmy point.
Pa., Oh. are northern versions of S.C. You'd think you were in Dixie.
Some stuff you can't make up!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQ3p2ju8E3Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXJCjVJZvH0&fe...
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
Yeah, can't be too careful with teabaggers. He might have shot you with an assault pistol, or knocked you down and teabagged you. NEVER try rational explanations, or suggesting he point the nozzle the other way to blow the snow into the grass.
The thing about Sestak, is that he does not seem to be bogged down by the baggage that Spector has. It is an interesting subject, it has really piqued my interest.
I don't think so. Freshman senator Hilary Clinton was put on the Armed Services Committee in her freshman term (rarely done) and freshman senator Barack Obama was put on the Foreign Relations Committee in his freshman term (rarely done).
When the Democratic caucus thinks somebody is a rising star, they'll put them on key committees. Personally, I'm okay with that. I just wish they'd use committee assignments to get rogue Democratic spoilers to play nice with others sometimes. Baucus, Nelson, Landrieu and Leiberman destroyed healthcare reform. They should have been kicked out of caucus for that and stripped of their committee assignments. Typically, being relegated to obscurity, and not being the chairman of any committee is more than these spoiled children/egomaniacs can stand. They should have been stripped of their committee assignments, and then those still in caucus should have tabled a Public Option bill and told them they MIGHT get put back on a committee IF they vote for it.
OPENSECRETS.COM has info that says Sestak is onto something! H e does NOT have the typical (R)ahmocrat resume.
[worth repeating]
Some stuff you can't make up!
I thought it was worth repeating, too, but did I miss something? He raised more money in general, and more money from individuals than from lobby groups than the average Congressman. Was that your only point, or did I miss something? :)
is shows why the WH would go into full denial mode. If sestak is not beholden to corporate interests, he has more credibility. Or maybe he's savvy enough to take the opportunity to show himself NOT to be a corporatist, because that is what is killing the image of incumbents.
Some stuff you can't make up!
but it is about the DLC, keeping DINOs seated instead of Liberal Democrats, and maintaining the Corporatist agenda. This is totally believable, despite White House claims to the contrary. This exactly fits the Barack Obama/Rahm Emmanuel Corporatist modus operandi, to a tee, and it stinks like last Tuesday's fish.
I will never vote for Obama again, even if it means that I would be "throwing away" my vote, according to certain bloggers here on C&L. I would rather maintain my personal integrity and conscience -- every vote has value. If they did not, the Corporatists and their henchmen on K Street and in the MSM would not spend so much GD money to convince us how we should vote.
"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable."
-- John F. Kennedy
and I can tell you that Sestack will not beat him anyway. I don't like Specter one bit, but Sestack honestly doesn't stand a chance. He'll make a good showing, but he will not win. People around here like Arlen for some reason.
makes sense.
Some stuff you can't make up!
happens to be the whole state of Pennsylvania. Hopefully, thinking he is too old and too prone to relapse to cancer will wake up the voters.
arlen could use a replacement.
Some stuff you can't make up!
I hope he runs and wins. He seems like a true liberal with some cojones.
If he gets elected, maybe he can primary Obama in 2012.
Rush Limbaugh is what a smart person thinks a stupid bigot sounds like.
I think the DNC establishment is already running scared from Sestak, which is why they've "leaked" all of that smear information about how bad a boss Sestak is to work for. (Low salaries, temper tantrums etc. Whenever you see somebody being attacked on PERSONALITY rather than policy, you know their opponents and enemies are running very short on ammunition.)
That said, I also think Specter is sincere. I don't think he's a bad senator, I just think Sestak would be a lot better.
All that stuff came out when he ran against Crazy Curt Weldon, at a time when Sestak had the full support of the DCCC.
Oh, and by the way? There was a more liberal guy that Rahm and Friends "persuaded" to get out of the way so Sestak could run. So it's amusing that Sestak is now so opposed to party interference.
Sestak is not all that liberal. He started saying he was when he announced against Arlen, and when he first ran for his 7th district seat -- but he also claimed he'd vote against war funding and FISA when - and didn't do either.
A former award-winning journalist and lifelong class warrior, keeping a jaundiced eye on the Washington elite.
I figured that would get a rise out of you. :)
The criticism is for *Sestack*, for not discreetly hiding a shady offer? Give me a break.
Arlen Specter is a Republican, no matter what he calls himself. I'm not surprised to see a collection of DLC frauds protecting him, but I am a bit surprised to see it suggested here that it's somehow proper to do so.
You really think that it was shady and not just political savvy?
The Republicans have scored some cheap points against Obama by pointing out that he ran on "change," and then once the Democrats got into power they proceeded to run Washington exactly the same way it's always been run. Back room deals, earmarks, "sweetners," kickbacks to lobby groups etc.
The counter narrative that's been building in response to this is to make Rahm Emmanuel the scape goat for it. As far as that's concerned, Sestak is showing a GREAT DEAL of political savvy by playing it like this. Running as an insurgent against the Democratic party "centrist" establishment is going to be a winning strategy in the near future.
I understand what you consider back-room deals, but I also know that that is sometimes that only way to get things done. I don't like it, but I don't have the whole picture either.
that's worse than K-Street. And it was (R)ahm's program as DLC operative. It's not scapegoating when the perpetrator is properly identified.
Some stuff you can't make up!
Yeah, scape goat was probably the wrong expression, and "fall guy" might have been closer to what I meant. But there's no exact term for what Emanuel is being set up for.
The closest (and funniest) term I can recall for this position was what Oliver "Belly button" North called himself at the Iran/Contra hearings. He was the "plausibly deniable link" that could be fired, taking ALL of the responsibility for the malfeasance with him, when in fact he was only responsible for SOME of it.
So why don't we start calling Congress K-Mart?
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
...of the U.S. Government:
The Boardroom
The House of Lords/K Mart
Whatever that is under the rock.
Call it Wal Mart and I agree
Let's assume for a minute that he beats Specter and comes to Washington as a senator. Who's going to trust him?
CaliforniaMike blogs at All Voices and at his own blogs, http://www.mikerappaport.net/onevoice and at http://oneminutewithmike.blogspot.com.
I don't think anybody trusted him, but I'll tell you what, If I lived in Florida, I would walk door to door for that guy. It is not the people in D.C. that have to trust you, it is the people in your distric/state.
And yes, Sestak would have a problem if they didn't trust him.
A former award-winning journalist and lifelong class warrior, keeping a jaundiced eye on the Washington elite.
...they trusted Al Franken? Franken has an agenda, but his agenda seems to be for the people of his state. I think he [Franken] is at the point at which he will start to get support from the right side of the spectrum.
...there's an unofficial "No Snitching" rule in the U.S. Senate?
Blaming everything on the President's CoS, that is.
I have asked before, and I will ask again: Please show me on the doll where Rahm touched you.
Don't try to confuse the issue with half-truths and gorilla dust.
but he called it 'fucking retarded' wherever that is...
me-oww!
Rahm is a piece of republican shit. He will be the end of Obama yet.
Nothing but a corporatist tool.
Rush Limbaugh is what a smart person thinks a stupid bigot sounds like.
I absolutely agree. Obama needs to muzzle him or dump him. He keeps cutting the WH and Congress off at the knees.
That is not the quality of a good support man.
His Mother?
This has the smell of Rahm Emanuel all over it. As a resident of Pennsylvania I am annoyed the White House is taking sides in this election. We dealt with Rick Santorum we can deal with Arlen Specter.
This is another of Rahm's backroom manuvers. Rahm is for Israel first then America. He doesn't care if our troops get killed if it would benefit Israel. Specter is no different. Joe Sestak is an independent voice for America.
There are few scenarios that Pat Toomey could get elected. He is part of the problem. He voted for the lie that is Iraq War. He voted for tax cuts for the wealthy. He voted for the deregulation of the financial sector that caused a near meltdown. Pennsylvanaia will deal with Toomey in November.
I wonder if he realizes that what he is saying is that he was and is unqualified to be considered for any of the several hundred appointed positions that the WH has to fill.
There are undoubtedly list of individuals make up by an incoming administrations, and maintained by an existing administration, of people who they consider qualified for various positions.
Sestak may very well have qualified for that list, and the office that manages the list may have sent out a feeler to him, and probably others, to see if he would consider taking an appointment.
After all he might have preferred what ever he claims was offered more than the office he might not get elected to. And nobody would know without asking him.
So what he is implying now is that he is not qualified to be considered for any appointed position. But wants us to understand that he is qualified for the Senate?
This is Repocon logic. What’s good is bad and what’s bad is good. And if you give me a chance at good I tattle on you and whine and make you our as bad.
This guy is a Republican in stupid clothing.
Sestak refuses an offer...end of story.
Mr Sestak, why give comfort to the enemy if you are so concerned about democratic values?
...what's to stop Sestak from going GOP?
I wouldn't trust this guy as far as I could throw him.
What I crave is honesty. And in order to get "better democrats", as many on the progressive intertubes claim to want, this kind of back room deal making is bullshit, and I am glad he exposed it. Specter is a typical Washington player who needs to be removed, period.
Sestak may turn out to be one too, but I hope those in PA vote him in. They are capable to choosing their nominee. We don't need interference from the White House, the Democratic Leadership, or anyone else. Just let the process take it's natural course.
When the "Senator From Pendergast" ran for re-election in 1940, FDR offered him a plush civil service job if he bowed out and made room for his primary challenger. In those days, the democratic nomination in Missouri was as good as gold- whomever secured it was assured a victory in the general election. Harry Truman refused the offer, and history took its course.
You should have seen Sestak kissing up to Tom Delay
on Meet The Press when Sestak first took office.
Even Delay couldn't freaking believe it and was
laughing in his face as if to say ...
'get down on your knees and say pretty please'.
I don't know whose crazier Sestak or Spector.
Then again, they had the criminally insane Ricky Santorum
as a senator. What the hell is in the Pa drinking water?
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