Post Sestak Victory / Weldon retirement coverage
At the victory party Joe Sestak said something about having pancakes at the Llanerch Diner this morning. I thought he was kidding...I was wrong. CBS3 brought their cameras to this local hangout near Upper Darby/Havertown. Check out this pretty cool video coverage.
The Delco Times ran an election day sort-of blog, with editor Phil Heron calling his running commentary the 'Heron's Nest,' using the name suggested here at PA-7 Watch. Phil even opened up the comment line and there were 22 comments on there as of this evening. While I'm flattered that Mr. Heron used my suggestion for his blog's name and mentioned this blog, it would be nice if he could put in our URL (www.PA7Watch.com) in there! I guess the readers there can just Google us. And I'm still waiting for my comment to be posted. Waiting 12 hours or more for a comment to be reviewed and released is an eternity in the blogosphere! Hurrahs to Phil Heron for this effort.
Razzies to whoever spraypainted the bridge. The Sestak campaign didn't need vandalism to win this race. Bad form. If the vandals wanted to help Sestak, there were certainly better ways to do it. Speaking of bad form, Razzies to the theives who stole the large number of Sestak signs and threw them on Sestak's front yard.
Hurrahs to the Delco Times reportering staff. In this morning's edition, the lead story from Bill Bender and Alex Rose was a fine recap of the day's events, Sestak's and Weldon's comments and the victory party.
I'll join Joe Sestak in thanking Curt Weldon and a Hurrah for his long tenure as PA-7's Congressman. Though we have focused on Weldon's shortcomings here at PA-7 Watch, I'm not blind to some good things he did.
But in the end, Weldon earned another Razzie by trying to blame the voters' decision on the FBI raids. Weldon was quoted as saying:
Sure sounds like whining to me, and falls right in line with the many conspiracies that we've heard from Weldon on so many topics, recently and over his 10 terms. Taylor Marsh on the Huffington Post calls him "Crazy Curt" in her election day post, and we've heard him called "Wacky Weldon" more than once. It's not that these name-calling taunts have no basis in truth. And in this case, Weldon is way off base again. Weldon did not have a lead in the polls three weeks ago, and if he thought that, he was kidding himself. But more importantly, the FBI raid was not something that just happened to Curt Weldon, it was something that he directly caused. So maybe the FBI caused it to be a loss by 13% instead of by 6-8%.
Weldon says about his future, "I can make money. I could teach. I could work for a think tank. It’s the people of the district who will lose." Maybe Weldon might need to spend some time in a tank of another kind. And a whole lot of Weldon's former constituents feel like they won last night.
And another Razzie to Gil Spencer, for his last lament piece grieving the loss of his pal Weldon. If you were trying to get me to feel sorry for Weldon and his "millionaire" pal Charlie Sexton, it didn't work. Spencer may have a misguided warm spot in his heart for Sexton and Weldon, but I can't get past the corruption that has lined the pockets of these two actors, their friends and families. We need less of this greed and not more of it, and if Spencer wants to romantize corruption, that's just typical Spencer poor judgment and more empty "Spencationalism."
The Delco Times ran an election day sort-of blog, with editor Phil Heron calling his running commentary the 'Heron's Nest,' using the name suggested here at PA-7 Watch. Phil even opened up the comment line and there were 22 comments on there as of this evening. While I'm flattered that Mr. Heron used my suggestion for his blog's name and mentioned this blog, it would be nice if he could put in our URL (www.PA7Watch.com) in there! I guess the readers there can just Google us. And I'm still waiting for my comment to be posted. Waiting 12 hours or more for a comment to be reviewed and released is an eternity in the blogosphere! Hurrahs to Phil Heron for this effort.
Razzies to whoever spraypainted the bridge. The Sestak campaign didn't need vandalism to win this race. Bad form. If the vandals wanted to help Sestak, there were certainly better ways to do it. Speaking of bad form, Razzies to the theives who stole the large number of Sestak signs and threw them on Sestak's front yard.
Hurrahs to the Delco Times reportering staff. In this morning's edition, the lead story from Bill Bender and Alex Rose was a fine recap of the day's events, Sestak's and Weldon's comments and the victory party.
I'll join Joe Sestak in thanking Curt Weldon and a Hurrah for his long tenure as PA-7's Congressman. Though we have focused on Weldon's shortcomings here at PA-7 Watch, I'm not blind to some good things he did.
But in the end, Weldon earned another Razzie by trying to blame the voters' decision on the FBI raids. Weldon was quoted as saying:
"Three weeks ago, we were seven points up in the polls, and then the bottom dropped out," Weldon said. "What can I say? I’m not complaining, I’m not whining, I’m not making excuses. It is what is."
Sure sounds like whining to me, and falls right in line with the many conspiracies that we've heard from Weldon on so many topics, recently and over his 10 terms. Taylor Marsh on the Huffington Post calls him "Crazy Curt" in her election day post, and we've heard him called "Wacky Weldon" more than once. It's not that these name-calling taunts have no basis in truth. And in this case, Weldon is way off base again. Weldon did not have a lead in the polls three weeks ago, and if he thought that, he was kidding himself. But more importantly, the FBI raid was not something that just happened to Curt Weldon, it was something that he directly caused. So maybe the FBI caused it to be a loss by 13% instead of by 6-8%.
Weldon says about his future, "I can make money. I could teach. I could work for a think tank. It’s the people of the district who will lose." Maybe Weldon might need to spend some time in a tank of another kind. And a whole lot of Weldon's former constituents feel like they won last night.
And another Razzie to Gil Spencer, for his last lament piece grieving the loss of his pal Weldon. If you were trying to get me to feel sorry for Weldon and his "millionaire" pal Charlie Sexton, it didn't work. Spencer may have a misguided warm spot in his heart for Sexton and Weldon, but I can't get past the corruption that has lined the pockets of these two actors, their friends and families. We need less of this greed and not more of it, and if Spencer wants to romantize corruption, that's just typical Spencer poor judgment and more empty "Spencationalism."
posted by Seventh Watch at 11:13 PM
25 Comments:
I agree the sign was a Razzie. The over-zealous vandals that did it were very misguided. I think it would be a nice gesture on the part of the Sestak campaign to reimburse the state/county for the cleanup.
The DelCo Times deserves yet another Razzie: If you leave a comment about Gil Spencer's wet-kiss farewell to Curt, they won't post it. I posted a comment more than 24 hours ago. It didn't go up. After 12 hours, I posted it again. It still didn't go up.
I just went to the Joe Sestak Wikipedia entry, which had been edited say that Joe had never paid a tax in Delco, lives in VA, and implied a lack of family and community values. As of 2:50 PM Friday Nov 10 2006, it has been edited by yours truly.
Vandalism is removed very quickly in Wikipedia articles. Repug trolls try to damage articles about Democrats, but they're on many active member's "watchlist," so junk is usually removed within minutes.
It's curious why Republicans were so upset about Sestak residency in Pennsylvania, considering they were actively supporting Santorum, whose only connection to Pennsylvania is an empty house he rents near Pittsburgh.
As a Weldon supporter, I have watched your posts on this website -- most times chuckling to myself as you claim to be "in the know" on such diverse topics as Curt Weldon's internal polling numbers and the FBI's investigation. I was appreciative to see you have the decency to thank the man who has done so much for this district. I don't care that you don't like him -- I only care that you give him a fair shake. Most of the time, you don't. Including now. Even in the glow of victory, you can't help yourself from jabbing him one more time -- in this instance, your claim that he is wrong about his own internal poll numbers. Take it from someone who knows -- you are wrong.
Good luck over the next 2 years. The Admiral is a one-termer who won't be able to fill one of Curt's shoes let alone both. Is it 2008 yet?
Dear anonymous Weldon supporter,
Glad to hear that you got some amusement from our blog; thanks for participating. If Weldon's internal poll numbers showed him that he was ahead 3 weeks ago, then so be it. But I said: "Weldon did not have a lead in the polls three weeks ago, and if he thought that, he was kidding himself." So all polls but Weldon's showed Sestak with a lead, albeit small.
As far as giving Weldon a fair shake, I said he did do some good things. I don't like or dislike Weldon. But I'd never give him a pass for the corruption.
And try taking your own advice on giving someone a fair shake. I think Sestak will make us forget Weldon pretty quickly. So put away the contempt prior to investigation.
As A Weldon supporter,I must admit I'm not the happiest person right now,but thank you to PA7 Watch,I went hard at you for the past couple of months and it remained very civil,not like some sites where it is just name calling.I hope to see you in two years,not sold on Joe yet.
Any comments on ,what did Dave call it "The Boeing Myth".Pretty good news from there,I wonder which Congressman helped in that.
Probably Bob Brady and Jack Murtha. Weldon probbaly helped too. It is too bad that it was not released before the election instead of three days after--probably more of the pentagon bureaucracy conspiracy. i do not agree with those that belittle weldon's coonsitutent service--he had his warts but noone ever said he was bad at getting stuff for people that he wanted to get it for. having heard from some republicans, i know there is not a long list of people crying that he's gone. as for 2008, bring it on. who's it gonna be-reilly or meehan?
I'm not about to thank Weldon for his "years of service" because of how he sold his vote to Abramoff, Big Oil, Big Pharma, etc. His years of service gave him more opportunities for taking advantage of his position than we'll ever even find out about. His votes supporting Bush have hurt America's image in the world and led to the deaths of untold thousands.
So, no. I'll not thank him nor make any appologies. Any good will from his early career has long since been spent.
Did he help out some local interests? Sure. But that was his job.
He was well paid both in salary and perks. And, yet, that didn't seem to be enough. He used his campaign funds for lifestyle with expensive meals and trips and labeled them "campaign meetings". (Okay, truth be told, I'm not all that upset if he abused the funds of anyone foolish enough to contribute to him.) However, when he takes money from Abramoff and other lobbyists for his vote, he undermines public trust in our government and creates policies that favor an underdeserving few.
When he tries to cut in his friends and family on the action, then it becomes its own enterprise.
The only "years of service" from Weldon of interest to me will be those he spends making license plates.
I wonder if he'll share a cell with anyone that turned to crime for lack of a social program for which some lobbyist asked him to cut funding?
Mr. Diano:
You are unbelievable. You have convicted Weldon before he has even been charged with a crime. There is no indication that any charges are even forthcoming, yet you already have him making license plates. As for his taking money from Jack Abramoff and other lobbyists for his vote --there is no evidence that anyone "paid" for his vote. Only time will tell if Sestak's votes are paid for by Soros and Moveon.org. If so, I wonder if you will display the same deafening rhetoric then.
Thank Weldon for his years of service of don't -- what you do not -- and cannot -- dispute is that he served the constituents of this district well for 20 years. His accomplishments are what they are -- not even your crude attempt to diminish them can make them go away. Was it his job? Absolutely. But does that mean you shouldn't appreciate the hard work of the Congressman and his staff? My god, man, even Sestak said during the debate that the Congressman has run a fine constituent service here in the district. When Sestak "delivers" (which remains to be seen), will you callously state that he was just doing his job? Or will you hype what he has done?
I can appreciate your point of view -- I hope you can appreciate mine.
Sestak has 2 years to demonstrate that he is worthy of the replacing Curt Weldon and that he is worthy of another term. Only time will tell.
I think you're going overboard wiht "worthy of replacing curt weldon." Curt was not a saint and in no way perfect. Joe Sestak is more than worthy to replace Weldon--a record number of voters said he is. As to the DELCO Repugs docussing on trying to take the seat back in two years now, again, bring it on and who is it, Meehan or reilly?
Pilleggi, Micozzie, Civera, Raymond, et al. should mark that date in their calendars as well--it will not be business as usual for them in that race.
This post has been removed by a blog administrator.
Tom Delay hasn't been "convicted" either, but there is no doubt in my mind about his guilt. And, O.J. was acquitted, so does that mean he is innocent?
Based upon the evidence I have seen and heard so far, combined with Weldon's votes, I look forward to seeing him behind bars where I feel he belongs, as a reaffirmation of justice being served.
As for Sestak's praise of Weldon, I put that in the same category as Bush's recent praise of Pelosi and the Dem leadership. I'm not so gullible as to believe it was sincere so much as it was a form of political reconciliation. Actions speak louder than words and I'm more interested in how Setak votes than the image he tries to project.
Weldon may have done a lot for businesses, but the pay-for-play politics, as to whom received the help, tarnished any altruism.
Weldon wasn't shy of accusing Clinton and Sestak of bribery or traitorism in regards to China, and those would be criminal acts, too, yet no one convicted them either.
No. I'll stand by my critism of Weldon's votes. He voted with Abramoff on the gambling and he voted with Big Pharma on Medicare drug pricing.
Sure, he hasn't been convicted, yet. But, the smart money is on Weldon going to jail.
Weldon accused Clinton and Sestak of traitorism in regards to China because a bi-partisan committee (the Cox Committee: 5 R's and 4 D's) unanimously concluded that Clinton had weakened our national security by selling secrets to China. That is a fact.
You accuse Weldon of having committed a crime based upon the "evidence" that you have seen and heard so far. What "evidence"? The fact that there is an on-going investigation? Do you have any idea how many investigations the FBI initiates that go nowhere? Your only "evidence" is that his daughter was given a lobbying contract by Russian/Serbian nationals that needed a connection in Washington. That goes on everyday. Criticize the process if you feel it is wrong, but there is no evidence in all of Weldon's votes that he steered contracts to any clients of his daughter. Would you agree that the FBI should be investigating Hillary Clinton for getting Chelsea a job with Hillary's largest campaign contributor? Based on your analysis, Hillary's campaign contributor would only have hired Chelsea to get something in return from Senator Clinton. As such, shouldn't Senator Clinton go to jail as well? I have enough perspective to say I don't know. And, with respect to Weldon, neither do you. Time will tell, of course, but to convict a man before he has even been charged is the kind of smacked-ass liberal rhetoric that serves absolutely no purpose.
Anonymous-
1) Sestak's name never appears in the Cox Report.
2) The report also concluded that a transfer of technology (mostly dual-use) had been occuring since the mid 70's. For example, civilian weather analysis technology can be used for correcting missle guidance.
3) Having a policy that may have been ineffective is not the same a traitorous desire to sell secrets.
4) "Traitor" is a pretty slanderous (or libelous) accusation. And again, the Cox report didn't convict anyone.
That's not my only "evidence". The FBI conducted 4 months of wiretaps. They've got tons of evidence which will be revealed at any trials after the grand jury investigations. If you are able, think... if the FBI tapped your phone for 4 months and there was no evidence of wrong doing, would they really bother to raid your house to prevent destruction of evidence? What are the odds that once the investigation was leaked to the papers that the FBI heard the targets talk about destroying evidence?
As for Chelsea, her experience, fame and pedigree are enough to secure her a job anywhere in the world. She is the product of two of the smartest people that are well known to the public and graduated with honors. I'm sure the biggest problem there was choosing among the thousands of offers she must have received.
Weldon's daughter started her own company and got a million dollar contract 6 days after daddy hosted a party with other congressmen on behalf of her soon-to-be client. Even an anonymous Kool-Aid drinker as yourself must realize the unlikelihood that she got it on her own merit.
For the record, I'm not convicting Weldon, I'm predicting that he will be convicted. I'll leave the actual conviction to the FBI, Justice Dept. and a jury. As for the "court of public opinion", the voters have already issued their ruling.
Mr Diano:
You are an idiot. You claim to know that the FBI has tons of evidence -- who the hell are you? Not only are you a cyber-politico, you are also, apparently, an undercover FBI agent. Where do you find the time?
And I never called Sestak a traitor -- you did. Neither did Weldon. Clinton, on the other hand, well that's another story. Glad to see you haven't lost the ability to be completely hypnotized by Willie and Hillary --and now, even Chelsea. Her experience (at what?) and fame qualify her? Do you even know Karen Weldon? Do you know Kim Weldon? How about Andrew Weldon? Do you know them? How dare you assume that they are not capable of getting a job on their own. You are a very small person, Mr. Diano. Very small, indeed.
Anonymous-
You can't even keep your own story straight:
Anonymous 11:30 AM says:
"Weldon accused Clinton and Sestak of traitorism in regards to China because a bi-partisan"
then Anonymous 8:27 AM (today) says:
"And I never called Sestak a traitor -- you did. Neither did Weldon."
Four months of wiretaps it a lot of evidence. Information about Weldon has been around for years but not readily available and little political will to pursue the leads. Most of it could not get revealed unless files were grabbed, phones were tapped or people forced to talk under oath. BTW, Abramoff gave Weldon money and Abramoff has been VERY cooperative. Wouldn't be suprised if he has a few notes about Weldon.
I didn't say Weldon's kids couldn't get a job on their own, just not jobs as good as they got trading off Curt. It's called empirical evidence.
As for Chelsea and the Clintons, none of them live in my district. I didn't vote for Hillary and Chelsea didn't get any contracts when Bill was in office. Also, Hillary was not listed in "20 Most Corrupt in Congress". Weldon was.
BTW, I'd stack up Chelsea against the Weldon clan any day of the week (and twice on Sunday).
You are relying on the CREW report that lists the 20 most "corrupt" members of Congress??? Please. We both know that CREW is nothing more than a mouthpiece for the left-wing of the DNC. Sadly, your reliance on that report is misplaced.
Your response about Chelsea getting a job with one of Hillary's contributors is to say that she didn't run in our district? Why does that matter? Your logic that Weldon should be crucified for what you allege is an appearance (at most, that is all it is at the moment) of impropriety is equally applicable to Senator Clinton. Yet, you cannot bring yourself to assault Senator Clinton with the vigor with which you assault Weldon.
As for the Sestak "traitor" comment, I was merely responding to your previous post. "Weldon wasn't shy of accusing Clinton and Sestak of bribery or traitorism in regards to China . . . ."
Again, you resort to generalities to support your "specific" evidence that Weldon did something wrong - See, e.g., "Information about Weldon has been around for years but not readily available and little political will to pursue the leads". Why don't you point to some of that evidence -- with specific support. Perhaps you can call the LA Times reporter who has been after Weldon since 2004. If you don't have any support, however, then stop saying it. Simply repeating the same mantra-like statements will not make them true.
Anonymous-
Actually, "we" both don't know that "CREW is nothing more than a mouthpiece for the left-wing of the DNC". Do you have evidence for that charge? Memos or tapes of phone conversations between DNC and CREW? BTW, do you think FoxNews is "fair and balanced"?
If it will make you happy... all I know about Weldon would amount to rumor or hearsay. However, I've heard enough of it from enough different sources that I believe it to be true and that I have hopes the Feds will find all the smoking guns they need. Am I predicting/speculating? Sure. I also predicted Sestak would defeat Weldon, too.
The 20 most corrupt were primarily Republicans because they were the ones in charge. Limit to what you can get in the minority. GOP came in on platform of ethics, so all the more fitting they get nailed on it.
There are 535 members of Congress. We got rid of Weldon and Santorum. Hillary's not in my district means that I've got higher priorities here in Delco. When our backyard is cleaned up, I'll worry about other areas. You right-wingers trot out the Clintons as your excuse for everything. Grow up.
Here's a little grist for the rumor mill... a very astute local GOP politico told me he thinks the Bush adminstration (not CREW) leaked the investigation to hurt Weldon in retaliation for past behavior. Once they knew they were losing the house by big margins, sacrificing Weldon wouldn't make a difference. I'm not saying I believe it, but I find it interesting that GOP guy would be against the CREW theory.
So can I assume from the Weldon supporters' comments that he/she/they have no problems with what Weldon, Sexton, Karen, Kim, Andrew, CeCe, etc. did? All okay there? Nothing wrong at all...just all business and they all just happened to be in the right place at the right time? No influence peddling at all?
Not that it matters. For whatever reason, the voters of PA-7 elected Sestak and repudiated Weldon. It does not matter why...just matters that it is. Now it's just up to the FBI and the lawyers as to what happens to Weldon.
But I'll say this. If there was a Congressman/Congresswoman who was thinking about setting up a friend or family member in a consulting or lobbying business, I'll bet they think twice about it.
Fox News is as fair and balanced as CNN, ABC News, CBS News, NBC News and PBS. I love how you liberals trot out Fox News -- one channel -- as the ultra-conservative cable news station when every other station on tv leans to the left. There is a reason that Fox News is the most watched cable news channel.
As for CREW, I have no tangible evidence that it is tied to the left. I do have more than rumor and hearsay, however. Take a look at the number of complaints filed, requests made, etc. by CREW. And then tell me that it isn't part of the far left.
Thank you for admitting that you have nothing to back up your anti-Weldon claims other than rumor and hearsay. As for the GOP friend who thinks the Bush Administration had something to do with the leak of the investigation? Maybe he's right -- the fact that there is an investigation at all could be retribution for Weldon's efforts to shine a light where the administration would rather it be dark. Regardless, the fact that it was leaked -- when it was leaked -- was not a coincidence.
I just wonder what you would have had to talk about if the investigation was still a secret. Would you have complained that he brought too many jobs to Delco? Or that he got too much money for firefighters in Delco? Or that his Dime Out A Dealer program was too successful? Or that UPS coming to Philadelphia was too good of an idea? Or that Boeing remaining in Delco (with its 5,000 Boeing jobs and 12,000 - 15,000 subcontractor jobs) was too good for Delco? Need I go on?
Dear Still Anonymous-
FoxNews is about as fair and balancesd as TASS. For you to even compare it to legitimate news organizations shows how out of touch you are. FoxNews is a propaganda machine that cherry-picks the news to support pre-existing positions, and has shown little effort at questing for the truth.
The other stations are the center. FoxNews is far out on the Right.
Ad for why Fox's ratings, that is simple: they offer sensationalism over responsible reporting. Also, the majority of news watchers reject Fox, but are evenly distributed in their choices among the real mainstream news.
CREW stands for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. They complained about the corruption in Washington, which was concentrated in the party (formerly) in power and the right-wing lobbyists. I used to thing that Judical Watch was a completely right-wing organization, but they've gone after Bush adminstration as well.
My "rumors and hearsay" were from enough diverse and trusted sources (including GOP insiders and Weldon contributors) that I found them credible.
Weldon didn't shine a light on administration. Weldon is conspiracy nut and an embarrassment. His Able Danger source has been repeated discredited (including the claim that Bin Laden died last Spring).
I agree the leak was intended to affect the election. The question is: Were the voters entitled to know about Weldon's dealing? They seemed to think so and Weldon's unconvincing denials didn't help. I guess you think the public's right-to-know should wait until after they make an uninformed vote.
If you could read, you'd realize that I talked about a lot of stuff on the blog BEFORE the investigation and I talked about the central issues of the investigation frequently. The existence of the investigate reaffirmed the validity of the topic. Unfortunately, I can't take credit for starting the investigation since it started several months before I started blogging. Shucks.
Weldon concentrated on a few companies at the expense of others. He did a great job for firefighters, but not enough for health care or the poor. The underfunding of No Child Left Behind increased Pennsylvania property taxes to pay for the education shortfall. He fought against a minimum wage increase and for irresponsible tax cuts for the rich that have increased our deficits.
Your argument for Weldon is like defending a priest that helps the community, even though he pockets money from the collection plate.
John F. Kennedy challenged, "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country."
Weldon's ability to bring in money into Delco (and his friends) is among the more selfish reasons to choose a congressman.
Raising mileage standards and lowering mercury pollution help everyone (and Delco too). Affordable health care helps everyone (and Delco too). Grown ups look at the big picture. Grown ups voted Sestak in and Weldon out.
Why are you crying so much about Weldon, anyway? Did you lose a staff job or a patronage job?
Stop cowering behind "anonymous".
could you guys all please stop the noise--it's over. sestak won. on to the next election. Reilly or Meehan? or what's nehind door number 3?
How about county council? will joe help the Ds or bury his head in washington? If the Ds want to effect real local change, look to the courthouse, and joes reelection will take care of itself.
if the Ds want to show themselves to be a real party and not a one trick pony, continue to build the party and stop wasting your time fighting over semantics. I'm sure the Rs are working on next year and the year after already, and not fighting over who struck john. tommy's one day vacation is over, he's gearing up for the next one.
Curt, you did a great job in the 7th district.... sorry to see you go! it will be hard for sestak to prove his worth in 2 years, but like mentioned above time will tell...
personally, i think he's too soft...
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