One day after Sestak wins the Democratic primary for the Senate in Pennsylvania, the NRSC already has an ad out criticizing him for being too liberal. I wonder what ad they had ready if Specter had won. I am wondering whether the DSCC will waste no time blasting Toomey (or at least I haven't seen any ads to that effect).
The "liberal" insult against Sestak is not surprising given that Toomey is way beyond the conservative pole of the dimension floating in far right-wing anti-matter. The Republicans are trying to define Sestak, which is expected, but I'm not so sure the "liberal" label will work so well with him if most people are looking at what he (or Toomey) can actually do for them. Sestak will undoubtedly try to define Toomey as well - or he better had - although we'll have to see how.
Below the fold for one way that Sestak can innoculate himself against Toomey's assaults ....
The anti-Toomey vaccine is called the Club for Growth, a far right-wing organization that also has a PAC that sponsors far right-wing candidates. They are the epitome of your anti-tax, anti-government conservative outfit.
Pat Toomey was, until declaring his candidacy for Senate about a year ago, the President of the Club for Growth. Toomey was named President in 2005, having the torched passed to him by none other than Steve Moore, a founder of the Club.
Why is this toxic for Toomey and an antidote for Sestak, aside from Toomey's close association with the Club? Look to Moore, who blessed Toomey, for a clear-cut expression of the kind of beliefs the Club stands for. Not the pablum they serve on their website, but the real core beliefs. The one that stands out to me - and that may be most damaging to Toomey given the large population of senior citizens in PA, which is second only to Florida - is what Moore thinks of the elderly. From an interview with the American Spectator (November 2002, paid access unfortunately):
I can say this because I am not an elected official: the most selfish group in America today is senior citizens. Their demands on Washington are: 'Give us more and more and more.' They have become the new welfare state, and given the size and political clout of this constituency, it's very dangerous. One of the biggest myths in politics today is that grandparents care about their grandkids. What they really care about is that that social security check and those Medicare payments are made on a timely basis.
Of course, saying he can say stuff like this because he's not an elected official simply means this is what he really thinks. Now one could claim this is guilt by association, but in this case when you're talking about an organization who only backs the purist of the pure extreme conservatives, it seems that Moore's opinion of senior citizens is relevant. After all, upon Toomey's selection as President of the Club, Moore said:
There is no better person to whom I could be passing the torch on to for running the Club for Growth than Pat Toomey.
Needless to say, the Club PAC endorsed has endorsed Toomey for PA-Senate.
Sestak's campaign - or some other organization in the position to do so - needs to educate voters on what the Club for Growth really stands for and needs to repeat ad nauseum their view of senior citizens as selfish parasites. The Club's endorsement of Toomey should be a kiss of death to his chances to win.