As if there was any doubt...

Joe Sestak has won the reelection he deserves. He ran a superb campaign and was able to stand on a remarkable constituent service record (his office handled more than double the congressional average of cases).

One indicator of his bipartisan appeal can be found in the raw vote totals. State Rep incumbents are normally the chief vote getters in municipalities. Normally, the Democratic Presidential candidate can be expected to receive more votes than the other down-ticket Democratic candidates (excluding incumbent State Reps), and this was true county-wide. However, it was Joe Sestak who came in second in terms of total votes in many municipalities. Delaware County Republicans will often vote for a Democratic Presidential candidate and still support down-ticket Republicans. However, in many municipalities with a strong Republican presence, Joe Sestak was able to outpoll both Obama and McCain, indicating significant support from Republican voters. Here are a few examples:

Haverford Township (mixed R & D)
Sestak = 17,640
Obama = 16,722
McCain = 11,557
Williams = 10,089

Springfield Township (solid R)
McCain = 7,482
Sestak = 7,274
Williams = 6,888
Obama = 6,859

Upper Darby Township (mixed R & D, large African American pop.)
Sestak = 23,554
Obama = 23,422
McCain = 13,286
Williams = 12,145

Sestak's large margin, including a significant number of votes from Republicans is quite an achievement when you consider the following factors:

Republicans outnumber Democrats in the 7th Congressional district.
Craig Williams had an impressive resume and ran an aggressive campaign.
The Delco GOP machine - 'nuff said (that's a compliment, by the way).
The poor organization of the various Delco Democratic committees.
Craig Williams had the endorsement of the largest area newspaper.

Sure, Joe enjoyed the Obama bump, but that's far from the whole story. The fact that he enjoyed larger vote totals than Obama in many municipalities reflects his appeal with moderate Republicans. That's something for the Delco GOP to chew on while they prepare for next year.

Congratulations, Mr. Congressman!

Sestak, Williams on the bailout

On Wednesday evening Congressman Sestak conducted number of impromtu community meetings in the district. The topic was the financial bailout legislation.

Sestak described the plan and the various parts of it. He described the process of how the plan had evolved from a 3 page bill originally from Paulson to a 100 page bill to a 400 page bill that eventually passed. Joe described this as the hardest vote he has had as a Congressman. And then he let the people yell at him.

Sestak traveled back from DC to meet with constituents, explain the bill and his position, and ask for feedback. And he certainly did get feedback. Some said that the government should let the market fail if it had to. Others said we should be putting the perpetrators in jail. Nobody that spoke liked it.

Many don't like this bailout and the problems that led to it. But I left the meeting with new respect for Joe Sestak. He used the terms "Representative" and "Congressman" to describe what he does. He gave his constituents the opportunity to tell him what they thought, and listened to them. He was their representative. In the end, he did what he thought best, even thought he know it was not popular.

Nobody knows ahead of time if this bailout will work, or if it was the right thing to do. I think Sestak felt the effects of a credit freeze and economic fall would be too dire to allow it to just happen. I think he cares less about Wall Street and is worried more about what will happen to the average middle class family. But anyway you look at it, he put his reputation on the line.

Contrast this will his opponent. Craig Williams has been all over the map on his position on the bailout. The Oct 3 Delco Times says: "Craig Williams, of Concord, the Republican challenger for the District 7 seat, agreed this new version of the bill needed to pass, but criticized his opponent for voting for the original bill."

I prefer Sestak style on this one. He showed a lot of guts. Williams showed a lot of willingness to flounder and say the politically expedient sound bite. Thanks Joe, no thanks, Craig.

The Debate On The Debate - The Continuing Adventures of Craig "Cry Baby" Williams

Craig Williams seems be unsure of what, exactly, would be acceptable terms for a debate with Sestak.

One thing that caught my eye in the Daily Times article from September 23rd (see the 9/25 post on this blog) was the quote from Craig Williams' press release, saying that he was "greatly disappointed that Sestak’s rhetoric about campaigning on the issues in a free exchange of ideas will only last for two hours."

In the next day's Bulletin, however, he's quoted as complaining that, "the two-hour length could dissuade radio and television outlets from running the debate."

He doesn't like the timing, he thinks he's being given too much time to give his answers, he doesn't like the long time for opening and closing statements, and he was apparently in favor of a long debate time before he was against it? Unless, of course, he's not in control of his press communications and wasn't yet briefed on what his position was supposed to be. Considering that the rest of his campaign is based on boiler-plate Republican talking points, I wouldn't be surprised by that at all.

Personally, I think that he needs to spend his time complaining about the terms of the debate because he knows he won't be able to stand on the issues. I think he's afraid of the long answer times because the only thing he's capable of doing in depth is drilling for oil.

Someone needs to bail Williams out before hurts himself

Wow, Craig Williams just doesn't get it on the financial crisis.

In the Sept 23 Delco Times story:
"Williams said government-sponsored enterprises, like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, need to be removed from the equation and the market must be allowed to operate freely to prevent future problems - an attitude espoused by former President Ronald Reagan."

But earlier in the article:
"Williams said if emergency legislation goes through allowing the bailouts to an as-yet-unknown number of financial agencies, he wants to see some serious accountability built into the provisions. He also stressed the need for transparency in the process and, if appropriate, some subpoenas and indictments being handed down."

Different positions (from the same article):

"Get government out of the way," said Williams. "If government had been out of the way from the start when it came to mortgage lending, the companies would have done fine."

Sestak said he does not agree with that philosophy. If anything, he said, this crisis resulted from a lack of responsible oversight and accountability.

So which is it Craig? Market rules only or regulation? You can't have it both ways. Reaganomics were awful, so if Williams makes up his mind and chooses trickle-down economics, it's just another reason to vote for Sestak.

Sestak - Williams debate

A debate between incumbent Democratic Congressman Joe Sestak and Republican challenger Craig Williams will be held on October 29, 2008 according to the Delco Times story on 9/23/2008. The debate will be two hours long.

According to the story, Williams is unhappy about this. He wanted more debates and more time. I guess the Delco Republicans have a short memory - they forgot that incumbent Curt Weldon wouldn't debate anyone for years and only granted a 1 hour debate with Sestak two years ago.

Details from the Delco Times:

According to the agreement between the two campaigns, the Delaware and Chester County Leagues of Women Voters is set to jointly host the debate.
The format will include six-minute opening and closing statements, the order for which will be determined by a coin toss.
Each candidate will have five minutes to respond to questions, which includes rebuttal time. The campaigns agreed to allow the League of Women Voters to determine the location and designate a moderator to ask questions.

Can't figure out what Williams is going to say after he opens with "Drill Baby Drill". But I'm sure he will get drilled by Sestak!

Drilling Williams

It seems that the only thing Craig Williams has to offer is that he is in favor of drilling for oil, everywhere and anywhere.

In recent (9/19/08) Delco Times article, it says "Craig Williams, the Republican candidate for the Seventh Congressional District, blasted his Democratic opponent, U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak, D-7, of Edgmont, this week over his support of the Comprehensive American Energy Security and Consumer Protection Act."

Williams must be inspired by his connection with would-be VP Sarah Palin and the GOP convention chants of "Drill Baby Drill" as it seems this is his only issue.

Sestak sticks to the facts, as he has stated over and over again, that there are thousands of unused drilling permits, that the proposed ANWR drilling will have little impact, and that drilling is only a short term answer to bigger energy problem.

Pandering by Williams, knowledge and hard work from Sestak. That's par for the course in this campaign.

The Unbearable Silence of Spencer

It's always a good laugh to read The Daily Times political coverage during election season, but there is a particularly interesting trend this year. If you review Gil Spencer's editorials and visit his Daily Times blog, you may notice a topic he seems to be avoiding - Delaware County politics.

Sure, he's chimed in on some local controversies here and there, but we haven't read his usual hatchet-jobs on Democratic candidates. I suppose Gil must be used to the fact that Vitali will be in his seat as long as he wants, but where are his screeds against Sestak? Maybe he's too pissed off about a potential Obama presidency and those nasty people beating up on poor Sarah Palin, or maybe he's lost track of Craig Williams, what with all that cross-continental traveling the man's been doing. Maybe he's auditioning for that national pundit career he's always wanted.

Maybe he knows which way the wind is really blowing and doesn't want to have to taste his own foot again.

Alaskans drill Williams

In response to Craig Williams' piece in the Aug 6 2008 News of Delaware County advocating drilling in the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), Eleanor Huffines, the Alaska Regional Director of the Wilderness Society wrote to the paper this week. (The response is not online.)

In short, Huffines debunks not only Williams' conclusions, but his methods. In typical Republican fashion, it appears that Williams listened to all the "pro-drilling partisans" and "vociferous pro-drilling forces" while ignoring invitations from native groups and environmental groups (including the Wilderness Society) to meet with him. One of the groups that Williams met with was called Artic Power, whose website says "The organization is committed to securing congressional and presidential approval of legislation opening the Coastal Plain of ANWR to responsible oil development. " As Huffines notes, it's "a front group who sole purpose is to lobby Congress to drill..."

Williams went there in favor of drilling in ANWR, met a bunch of people who agreed with him, and came back with the same notion. Williams got "a skewed picture of what drilling would entail." Kinda like watching Fox News.

This is not the kind of work that would make him a good Congressman. But it does give the voters of PA-7 some idea of how he would operate - he'd fall right in line with the Bush - McSame - oil lobbyist clique that is screwing up our country right now.

Williams' Alaskan Adventure - Drilling for the Eskimo Vote in ANWR

PA-7 Watch is back!

Just in time to find Joe Sestak's opponent Craig Williams returning from his Alaskan Adventure to "steal the show" at a McCain rally, according the Delco Times.

Turns out the "rally" - later described as "the event, which drew a crowd of about 60 in the retirement community's Cardinal Clubhouse auditorium." Wow, I bet Williams rallied the seniors for McCain, since McCain is one of them!

But I got off track. Seems that Williams is having a hard time finding supporters in the PA-7 district, so he took his campaign to Alaska. According to the DelcoTimes story, "Williams discussed his recent trip to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the need for the United States to decrease its dependence on foreign oil by expanding drilling options and developing alternative fuel sources,..."

So Williams wanted to investigate first hand what would happen to ANWR if we drilled there. I'm not sure, but I think the idea is to figure out what would happen after the drilling happened.

Anyway, he wrote a bit in the News of Delaware County (not available online) where he talked about going to various Eskimo villages, including the village of Kaktovik, where he says the villagers are all for drilling.

So Williams thinks it's a good idea to campaign in Alaska when he has just a few months to go in an uphill battle against a popular incumbent in a Pennsylvania Congressional district. If he's trying to drill hes way to votes here by working the Eskimo voting block, it looks like his campaign is going to come up dry.