Today on Meet the Press Sestak continued his accusations that the Obama Administration offered him a job as a bribe. There has been much speculation that the job was Secretary of the Navy. But, considering how Sestak left the Navy under a cloud, such an important job seems unlikely.
There is now a rumor (I'm starting it right here) that Joe is claiming the job was actually Secretary of the Navel. His job was going to be finding words that rhyme with orange. Furthermore, Joe has indicated that he already knows a word that does rhyme with orange, but won't say what it is in interviews.
When asked why he won't reveal the rhymed word for reporters, the explanation boiled down to the same excuse why he won't answer questions surrounding his other controversies: Please don't call me on my bluffs or bullshit, or you're attacking the military.
The Toomey camp is already making political capital out of this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSV98GHO8OI.
ReplyDeleteWhat happens next?
Toomey, Issa, Santorum, Hannity, Rove, etc. will continue to use Sestak as a evidence of:
ReplyDelete1) A crime (offering a government job for a political outcome)
2) A cover-up of alleged crime by White House
3) A lack of transparency (by both Obama administration, and Sestak who's not giving out more details)
4) As a crime by Sestak for failing to report a bribery attempt (and now covering it by refusing to reveals details).
So, the GOP is going to keep attacking. It costs them nothing, because Sestak is doing the heavy lifting.
Eventually the details will come out, but it will be a bigger deal because of the stonewall. And every pundit will a wonder aloud "Why didn't they nip this in the bud sooner?"
The GOP pundits will answer, "Because they are arrogant crooks who thought they could get away with anything."
The Dem pundits will answer, "Because they were naive to think it would get out of hand and be a big f-ing deal".
I suspect Sestak would see the SECNAV job as below him.
ReplyDeleteWell, it turns out that Sestak is ineligible for SECNAV until five years after his resignation.
ReplyDeleteUnder-Secretary of the Navy doesn't have that restriction, but I agree that Sestak would view that job as beneath him.
My guess is that Sestak negotiated, but couldn't get the job he wanted.
Do you think the administration really even "offered" him anything, or was the conversation grossly hyperbolized as a play to get the sympathy of the primary undecideds? (I.e.: "Our poor true Democrat is being bullied to sell out, but he refused!")
ReplyDeleteDuring the tighter days, it's a decent gambit from their perspective: their man gets 'a call' from the WH, claims to have been offered a job to "get out of the race" but "refused," thereby posing as the moral savior of the true left, unwilling to make the same type of plays his then-opponent made in switching parties.
Fast-forward: as the party nominee, he's now now put them in the position of fending off an ethics investigation (whether or not it's justified), he himself looks like a coward for subsequently refusing to give specifics and move on, and meanwhile Toomey's team scoops up the rewards without having to spend a dime.
This can't be endearing Sestak's team with the WH, OFA, nor the PA Democratic Committee. (To say nothing of us voters, by the way.)
What kind of intra-mural Dems rift, and with what consequences, will all of this create? I have a feeling that'll be the real result of all of this.
Matt-
ReplyDeleteI've always suspected that Sestak either asked for a job in exchange for pulling out, or sent a friend through a back-channel to let the WH know he'd be willing to entertain an offer. Then, I figure he didn't get the offer he wanted or thought he deserved. I wouldn't be surprise if there was back-and-forth negotiations as well. At the time, Sestak was pretty far back in the polls, so I don't know how much leverage he had to name his price.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/27/AR2010052705245.html
I'm not sure how this is going to come out without burning someone.
Any back-peddling by Sestak is going to look like he sold out to appease the White House. If Joe's sticks to his story, the White House is in the uncomfortable position of calling Sestak a liar.
Interesting theory. The WH's response of "an answer will arrive in a matter of days" seems to suggest that there isn't much substance to the bribery allegation. If that's the case, and there really was no "offer" of any kind made, it makes Sestak look like disingenuous at best, and liar at worst. Besides, the WH shouldn't have to run damage control for him, and I doubt they appreciate having to do that.
ReplyDeleteEither way, can't be good, and since I'm disposed to believe the version of the story with the WH in the right, it's hard to see how this wouldn't increase the friction between the two camps.
Seems like the "Chicago Way" to me. ;)
ReplyDelete(Said with a Sean Connery accent.)