Posted on 04/21/2006 6:27:28 AM PDT by americaprd
Joe Sestak's campaign-finance report reads like a list of invitees to an Oval Office meeting with Bill Clinton.
The former three-star admiral, trying to oust Republican Curt Weldon from his U.S. House seat in the Philadelphia suburbs, has received financial support from a dozen top insiders from Clinton's two terms in the White House.
So many onetime Clintonites are among Sestak donors that the Weldon campaign yesterday cited it as proof of its claim that Sestak, with no previous electoral experience, is little more than the tool of a Democratic Party effort to oust GOP incumbents in swing districts throughout the country.
Sestak's campaign said, however, that the former Clinton officials are people Sestak knew personally when he was something of a White House insider - director for defense policy on the National Security Council staff.
Sestak's contributors include U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D., N.Y.), whose political action committee gave $2,500.
Also on the list are:
Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who donated $500.
Former White House chief of staff John Podesta, who gave $300.
Former CIA director John Deutch, who gave $500.
Former Navy secretary John Dalton, who gave $500.
Former national security adviser Samuel R. "Sandy" Berger, who gave $1,000.
Former national security adviser Anthony Lake, who gave $500.
Among the administration's once-powerful but lesser known figures on the donor list is Richard A. Clarke. He later became famous for his 2003 book, Against All Enemies, that accused President Bush of ignoring terrorist threats before 9/11. Clarke, who was a top counterterrorism adviser to several presidents, gave $2,100 to Sestak.
"Joe Sestak was picked - handpicked - by the Clinton national Democratic organization to... run for this seat, and now they're bankrolling him," said Michael Puppio, a Weldon campaign spokesman.
Sestak is running in the Seventh District, concentrated in Delaware County, where he grew up but where he had not lived for decades before mounting his campaign. As a Navy officer, he lived all over.
The Weldon campaign earlier criticized Sestak for taking support from Berger, whom it said is a convicted criminal. Berger pleaded guilty last year to a misdemeanor charge of removing unauthorized material from an archive and retaining classified documents.
Puppio, in a telephone interview yesterday, said the inclusion of Deutch's name on Sestak's list made for two "convicted criminals" who had contributed to the Democrat.
Deutch won a pardon
Clinton, on leaving office in 2001, pardoned Deutch for a misdemeanor conviction of having retained classified information on his home computer.
Allison Price, Sestak's spokeswoman, said yesterday that Sestak was "very proud" of gaining support from the Clinton insiders, including both Berger and Deutch.
Sestak earned the support of the administration officials by having won their respect and confidence when he worked with them, according to Price. His campaign Web site contains a photo of him in white Navy uniform in the Oval Office with Clinton.
A number of former National Security Council staffers, and at least four former admirals, are also among the 3,864 people the Sestak campaign said have contributed $427,264 from Jan. 1 to March 31.
In the same period, Weldon, who has been in Congress for two decades, raised more than $460,000, including substantial contributions from the defense industry. He is vice chairman of both the House Armed Services and Homeland Security committees, and is the head of an Armed Services subcommittee that authorizes defense programs.
Officials at defense firms
Sestak's financial report, filed last week with the Federal Election Commission, shows a few contributions from officials at General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, all defense companies. Price said these are from former Navy leaders or National Security Council officials who worked with Sestak.
"Many of the people in armed forces... go to work for the defense industry," Price said.
Also donating to Sestak's campaign were members of his large immediate family, including his father, Joe Sestak Sr., and his mother, Kathleen, both of Delaware County, who each gave the legal maximum of $4,200.
Several of his brothers and sisters gave up to $4,200, also.
Among the political well-knowns on Sestak's report is an entertainer. Jimmy Buffett, the singer who made "Margaritaville" famous, donated $2,100 from his base of operations in Los Angeles.
Former President Clinton is a big no-show on the Sestak list.
But there is a Bill Clinton - in fact, a William J. Clinton - on the list.
Clinton, a former health-care manager who now works as a consultant from Upper Providence, Delaware County, gave $250. He recently became a township councilman.
"I am a Democrat, and a progressive," he said, "and I support Joe Sestak."
This group could have prevented 9/11, but the Clinton's knocked it out of Commission. When Weldon started digging into this issue, the Clinton's recruited one of their own -- Admiral Joe Sestak, a former member of Clinton's NationalSecurity Council -- to run against Weldon.
Can you say .. Able Danger??
Sure looks to me the Clinton people want Weldon out of office
Top Republicans better get their act together. Dummycrat Liberals spend every waking minute of their day plotting, planning, and conniving. IMO, they live in the gutter and the only way to fight them is to climb in.
I like Weldon. He's a good guy. Unfortunately for him, he's in an area that's trending blue. The 2006 Almanac of American Politics cites the 7th disctrict as D+4.
Weldon won 59 % of the vote in 2004 (his worst showing since his initial run for congress) and had to spend a TON of money to get it. I suspect he'll pull it off, but it may cause him a bit of sweat.
I hate these Democrats so much.
At the very least, they're causing Weldon a great of distraction, forcing him to spend time on fundraising that he might otherwise be using to pursue Able Danger.
Time again to send emails, snail mail, etc. to congress reps; senators and frist....hoping that it will do some good....
Weldon will win
I agree. I think he will win. But these Democrat voters spread like roaches. They start out in the big cities and slowly but surely infiltrate their way outward. PA-07 will likely still be in GOP hands for a few more years...but if it keeps turning blue we can kiss it good-bye around 2010. Same thing for PA-08. Fitzpatrick will take it this year because he doesn't have a good challenger...
I'm NOT feeling good about Gerlach in PA-06. Gerlach (R) only took last election 51-49 and the Rats are just itching to take the seat.
It's because the Dems in Philly are taxing the crap out of people, the crime is up and the school system stinks
How true re: Philly Dems
bttt
bttt
I am sad that John Dalton is part of this cabal.
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