Sestak keeps up the charge on Toomey & derivatives

All the way back in 2009, one of the first attacks Arlen Specter lobbed at Pat Toomey was to link him to the financial derivatives that have been partly blamed for the economic collapse. More than a year later, Democrat Joe Sestak, the man who dispatched Specter in the primary and faces Toomey in the fall, is continuing that charge.

Sestak’s campaign put out its latest Web video Monday, a 90-second spot that sought to…

June 28, 2010 at 2:30 pm | Comments (5)

Sestak and Toomey are tied, poll says

The Pennsylvania Senate race is dead even.

That’s according to a new survey from Public Policy Polling, which found Democrat Joe Sestak and Republican Pat Toomey tied, with each candidate winning 41 percent of the vote. Eighteen percent of voters are still undecided, according to the poll.

“Joe Sestak is tied with Pat Toomey even though we see a Pennsylvania electorate for this fall that is much more Republican friendly than the one that turned…

June 22, 2010 at 1:17 pm | Comments (18)

Toomey camp seizes on Sestak’s San Fran visit

With Democrat Joe Sestak set to visit House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s district in San Francisco Monday, Republican Pat Toomey’s campaign saw yet another opening to paint Sestak as a lefty-liberal.

The Toomey campaign released a Web video calling Sestak “just another San Franscisco liberal” and comparing his positions with Pelosi’s.

“Sestak’s MoveOn.Org agenda may fly in San Francisco,” Toomey’s campaign said in a statement, “but it is too extreme for Pennsylvania.”

See the video below.…

June 21, 2010 at 2:00 pm | Comments (21)

Toomey asks: ‘How well do you know Joe?’

Republican Pat Toomey’s campaign has come up with a quirky new tool in its crusade to paint Democrat Joe Sestak as an out-of-touch liberal: a quiz.

The Toomey campaign on Wednesday unveiled the “How well do you know Joe?” quiz, to which it will add questions over the next couple weeks.

One of the first questions asks takers to guess who said a Sestak win in the Democratic primary would be “cataclysmic” (answer: T.J. Rooney).…

June 16, 2010 at 2:24 pm | Comments (16)

The Sestak-as-crazy-campaigner meme returns

Less than a month after he knocked off the state’s greatest political heavyweight, it looks like Democrat Joe Sestak is once again being scrutinized for the fact that he runs with an unorthodox political organization.

During the run-up to the primary, we here at pa2010.com did as much as anyone to advance this storyline, pointing out that he doesn’t technically have a campaign manager and airing skepticism…

June 15, 2010 at 11:15 am | Comments (30)

Sestak calls for direct Israeli-Palestinian talks

Congressman Joe Sestak (D-7) used a Flag Day appearance in Philadelphia on Monday to call for the United States to mediate direct negotiations toward resolving the intractable Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“The way forward in the Middle East, as it has been around the world and throughout history, is communication,” Sestak said in remarks prepared for delivery outside Independence Hall. “There must be direct talks between the Israelis and Palestinians, mediated by the United States. The proximity…

June 14, 2010 at 1:41 pm | Comments (9)

More oil and gas in the Senate race

From the Gulf of Mexico to the Marcellus Shale, we’re having a hard time keeping up with all the oil and gas rhetoric leaking out of the Senate race.

It started last week, with Democrats hammering Republican Pat Toomey for still supporting off-shore drilling as Toomey tried to claim the middle ground. But the back-and-forth has continued almost every day. At first it seemed that Democratic party organizations were taking care…

June 14, 2010 at 1:22 pm | Comments (4)

Toomey waves off criticism of oil money

Republican Senate candidate Pat Toomey is pushing back against attacks that campaign contributions from the oil industry are fueling his continued support for off-shore drilling.

“Contributions that come to me don’t influence my position on issues,” Toomey told the CBS affiliate in Pittsburgh Thursday. “My longstanding support for developing domestic energy is probably something that an awful of of Americans and Pennsylvanians agree with, and sure, people in the energy sector agree with that as…

June 11, 2010 at 3:32 pm | Comments (11)

Dems tie Toomey to Big Oil, but Republican claims middle ground

With oil spilling into the Gulf of Mexico unabated, Democrats are making their most sustained efforts to date to link Republican Senate candidate Pat Toomey to the oil industry, highlighting campaign contributions from the sector and votes in Congress to allow expanded drilling. But their criticisms are being at least slightly undercut by the fact that the leader of their party, President Obama, agrees with Toomey on one critical issue: both favor continued off-shore drilling.…

June 9, 2010 at 5:35 pm | Comments (11)

Sestak says he’s a staunch supporter of Israel

PHOENIXVILLE—A few days after Republican Senate nominee Pat Toomey voiced his support for Israel, Democrat Joe Sestak echoed the sentiment, calling himself a strong supporter of the country without weighing on the specifics of a

June 7, 2010 at 10:13 am | Comments (19)