I'm very pleased to let you know that Democratic Congressman Joe Sestak, candidate for U.S. Senate from Pennsylvania, will join us at Senate Guru tomorrow, Thursday September 10, at 5pm Eastern Time for a live blog session. I'm sure he will update us on how his campaign is going, discuss a variety of issues, offer his thoughts in response to tonight's Presidential address on health care reform, and, of course, field your questions.
I hope you will be able to join us for the first candidate liveblog session of the 2010 cycle at Senate Guru. Bring your questions for Congressman Sestak and invite your political junkie friends to join us. (And, if you're really excited for the conversation, support Congressman Sestak with a contribution via the Expand the Map! ActBlue page.)
Right now, 14,000 people are losing their health care coverage every day because our costs are skyrocketing. Meanwhile, too many politicians in Washington, who seem to be ignoring the lessons from Wall Street, would rather leave our health insurance reform up to the insurance companies. No matter what the final bill looks like, we deserve to know how our Representatives and Senators will vote on a public option - up or down!
For an entire day in September 2008, the cable news networks reported on "Lipstickgate" -- an episode that will forever be a blemish on journalism.
Today, I have to ask: Where's the media outrage over a true scandal, Arlen Specter's Cancergate? (Yes, I'm coining that term -- to describe Specter tricking the public into donating to a cancer cure website that actually funds his political campaign.)
Also today, I believe I'm first to break some news: Arlen Specter's campaign has quietly changed his "Specter for the Cure" website after initially denying it was a scandal. And I have the screenshots to prove it.
First, the back story. The hint of scandal was first dropped Sunday, May 3, in a Fort Worth Star Telegram article quoting OpenSecrets.org's Sheila Krumholz:
As an example of a misleading Web site, she cites www.Specterforthecure.com. It appears to be a fundraising site for a reform movement to help Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., fund programs that will seek cures for major diseases and illnesses.
Actually, it’s a fundraising arm for the re-election of Specter, who last week switched parties from Republican to Democratic.
Unfortunately, "Watchdog" reporter Dave Lieber completely buried the lead in paragraph 23, potentially dooming it to obscurity. Until...the same publication resurrected the item the next day and put it in a headline, "Arlen Specter and his confusing web site." This story elevates some important details:
A Specter spokeswoman told The Watchdog: "Specterforthecure.com is explicit throughout — including the name itself — that the site raises money for a candidate.
The same morning [Dave Lieber's original] column ran, Specter was on CBS' Face The Nation to talk about his recent defection to the Democrats. Specter took a moment to mention SpecterForTheCure.com. See if you can figure out what the site's purpose is from his remarks:
"And one of the items that I’m working on, Bob, is funding for medical research. I’ve been the spear carrier to increase medical research. And I’ve even established a Web site, Specterforthecure.com, to try to get people to put more pressure on Congress to join me in getting more funding." (Full transcript here.)
[Bold added to emphasize, ahem, lies.]
Here is a screenshot of SpecterForTheCure.com, taken yesterday (Friday, May 8) at about 5pm EST. If your mother or grandmother heard Arlen Specter on CBS and went to this site, what would they think they were contributing to?
Fresh off of his primary victory earlier this week, State Senator Andrew Rice will hold an hour-long liveblog session at Senate Guru next week, Wednesday, August 6, at 2pm Eastern, 1pm Central, Noon Mountain, 11am Pacific.
In addition to securing the 2008 Democratic nomination for Senate to square off against Jim "In Denial" Inhofe, Rice is coming off of his best fundraising quarter to date, and he has just released his first TV ad, at right. Further, Democratic enthusiasm is high in Oklahoma. In Tuesday's primary election, over 190,000 voters turned out for the Democratic primary while less than 140,000 voters turned out for the Republican primary despite Inhofe running amid a four-way GOP primary.
Rice has also worked to develop his communication with the netroots. He has held a number of liveblogs on Daily Kos, and he is the first Democratic candidate for Senate to reach the 100-contribution mark on the Expand the Map! ActBlue page.
Senate Guru hopes you can join us for what should be an enlightening and entertaining liveblog with Andrew Rice.
Senate Guru is on strike! What are the Guru's demands? To get the Guru back to blogging, we need to raise seven twenty-dollar bills each for red state Democratic Senate candidates Jim Martin, Jim Slattery, and Ronnie Musgrove on the Expand the Map! ActBlue page. Your Andrew Jacksons will go toward a great cause: dislodging Shameless Saxby Chambliss, Bush-cover-up-artist Pat Roberts, and ethically questionable Roger Wicker from the U.S. Senate. So, please, this weekend, send your twenties to these competitive Democrats in red states via the Expand the Map! ActBlue page and get the Guru back to blogging!
STATE BLOGS
