The Sestak campaign put out a new ad today, and it's not quite like any other one I've ever seen.
And it gives the phrase "Friday News Dump" a whole new meaning!
Transcript
I'm Joe Sestak and this is Belle. My family loves Belle. But she can make a mess. And we have to clean it up.
I think about Belle when I see Congressman Toomey's ads attacking me.
It made me sick to bail out the banks. But I had to clean up the mess left behind by these guys. [Points to picture of George W. Bush and Pat Toomey.] They let Wall Street run wild. Now Pat Toomey is attacking me for cleaning up his mess.
I authorize this message because we deserve leaders who solve problems instead of playing politics.
I laughed out loud at this ad, and I loved the fact that the campaign took a risk with such originality. And it was a smart move too because it will get a lot of free air time, even if it's being criticized. This is a good thing given that the Chamber of Commerce and Karl Rove's Crossroads GPS are spending like crazy against Sestak running attack ads.
Toomey's campaign is not too happy. They issued what I thought was a pretty lame response which was published by... drumroll... The Wall Street Journal, of course.
The Toomey campaign issued a statement saying "Congressman Joe Sestak must be feeling the heat for his enthusiastic support for every single bailout because he is up with a new ad trying to defend his votes for the bailout of Wall Street, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the auto companies.
"Too bad his defense is full of ‘poop.’"
http://blogs.wsj.com/...
Another reaction from TPM:
TPM:
Rep. Joe Sestak (D-PA) has a colorful new ad in the Pennsylvania Senate race. In the ad, Sestak holds up a bag of his dog's excrement -- comparing it to the national problems left behind by Republicans for the Democrats to deal with.
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/...
I'm sure there will be more reactions to this in the coming day or two.
I hope that the Sestak campaign runs this ad during the Phillies games this weekend as they start the National League Championship Series in San Francisco at home.
One last thing to remember. In the primary race against Specter, Sestak's big ad, nicknamed "The Ad" came out twelve days before the election. Sestak was trailing by some twenty points four weeks before the election. And he came back and won. He did a similar thing in the 2006 election against Weldon.
Commentary: Long odds don't rattle Joe Sestak's campaign
...
Sestak has been that rare 6 percent candidate before. The question is: Will he pull another "Sestak" — shorthand for the former Navy admiral’s ability to turn a 20-point polling deficit into a win.
Sestak did it in 2006, when he beat Rep. Curt Weldon after trailing by 36 points weeks before Election Day.
Sestak did it in May, after trailing Sen. Arlen Specter by 21 points in the Democratic primary.
Anybody who knows Joe or knows his record is not ready to concede this race. A lot of us believe he's going to come from behind and win again.
Heck, even Nate Silver (argh) seems to be hedging his bets now on the Pennsylvania Senate after months of... well I'm not going to go there tonight and will keep this upbeat :) Here's what Nate sent out on Twitter today:
A very smart person in a position to know tells me I'm wrong on #PASEN and private polls genuinely show the race tightening. FWIW.
http://twitter.com/...
Joe's going to need money to run ads during all those Phillies games as they make their way to the World Series...
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What You Can Do To Help
Donate to Joe Sestak's campaign.
Join the Sestak Action Network.
Sign up for Sestak's virtual phonebank group.
Write letters to the editor for Sestak.
Send messages on Twitter: ( @Sestak2010, @ToomeyForSenate)
Update:Help me send out positive messages on Twitter about the Sestak campaign. Just go to my Twitter page and look for Sestak tweets that you may want to retweet. I send out tweets a couple of times a day, usually. The Toomey folks often outnumber us, so let's change that.