Curt Weldon + Joe Sestak = a mess

A little profile of the 7th district race (from the NYT)....

Before things got ugly for Weldon, that is....

From MSNBC:

The FBI is investigating whether U.S. Rep. Curt Weldon used his influence to secure lobbying and consulting contracts for his daughter, two people familiar with the inquiry said Saturday.

The inquiry focuses on lobbying contracts worth $1 million that Weldon's daughter, Karen Weldon, obtained from foreign clients [blogger's note - Russia] and whether they were assisted by the Republican congressman, they said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because of the confidentiality of the criminal investigation.

Last week, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee mailed fliers to voters in Weldon's district accusing Karen Weldon of getting help from her father on lobbying projects. [blogger's note - why yes, we received those mailings.]

Michael Puppio, Weldon's campaign manager, questioned the timing of the mailing and published reports about the investigation. He accused Democrats of "attempting to smear the congressman and his entire family" in the final weeks of the campaign.

More here
and here.....

And an older post here regarding Weldon's (lack of) military record, an interesting point for such a war hawk.

Bottom line?

Sestak's campaign has harped on Weldon's daughter's lobbying scandal (which might or might not be a big issue, but should be discussed)....but has fallen flat on other attacks:

Weldon took money from defense contractors!
Duh. Most Boeing employees in the district would thank Weldon for using his clout to save the Boeing factory in Ridley Park that makes the V-22 Osprey, even if it's a faulty aircraft that crashes too often and kills our troops. A recorded phone message from a Democratic PAC repeats the same charge about taking money, then casually notes that Halliburton is a defense contractor and they're in trouble. The message never gets around to actually claiming that Weldon took money from Halliburton, but the inference is clearly there.

Weldon took money from Big Oil!
Another duh. Weldon is from Marcus Hook, home to numerous oil refineries and lots of Delaware County jobs. Most of those employees are happy that Weldon has clout.

The dilemma for many DelCo voters is: do you take Weldon, with all his lumps, since he has influence and brings home demonstrated bacon? Or do you cut him loose?

Attacks from Weldon on Sestak are pretty weak but sometimes accurate:

Sestak was fired from his job and was arrogant!
True, but when your flier has multiple quotes and most come from the same article, it's slim. Sestak struck back with an effective TV commercial with Vets for Sestak.

Sestak wants to raise your taxes and bring back (gasp!) the death tax!
True, assuming by "raise your taxes" means eliminating all those tax cut checks that help in the short run but boost the deficit, too.

Sestak doesn't even live in the district (a carpetbagger)!
True. He has a nice big home in Virginia and has a smaller home in Pennsylvania. Like Santorum does.

Sestak is supported by liberal groups like MoveOn.org!
True. And apparently gets most of his generic advertising from them, too.

Sestak didn't vote for President three times!
Wow.

Sestak campaigned in a classroom!
And I guess when Weldon, Santorum and any other elected official shows up in a classroom two weeks before election day, it's just to show the kids how a bill becomes a law - right?

If you're a Democrat, do you just vote Sestak simply to help take back the House? It can't be for any other reason, since Sestak has no track record.

Hmmm. Whitey on the moon.