Friday, February 1, 2008

Dan "The One Issue Man" Seals Drops His Professorship Claim From His Campaign Literature

The heat continues to build on Democratic 10th District congressional candidate Dan Seals for his grossly overstated claim (dare we say "lie"), made since last October, that he is a "current" adjunct professor at Northwestern University. Seals has used this claimed credential as a centerpiece of his thin resume for many months, even though his single night class at NU's school of continuing studies isn't scheduled to begin until April 2008 (obviously well after the primary), and he's never taught there otherwise.

As Team America has reported, the mainstream media has taken notice. This Wednesday, the Daily Herald broke the story in the MSM, and Thursday the Pioneer Press offered its own take on the scandal.

Just yesterday evening, the Chicago Tribune "clout street" blog ran an item on professor-gate, and bloggers from Wilmette to as far away as Kentucky and New York are also taking notice. And, here at Team America, yesterday's post on the issue smashed our previous record for daily "hits" on the blog, clocking in at over 350, which is about twice the normal daily total (kudos to Capitol Fax Blog for the link yesterday!). Clearly, the voters are interested and paying attention.

For some weeks, we have been seeing in news reports on the Seals candidacy that he has softened his claim from "adjunct professor" to "lecturer", and now some new stories are even referring to him as a simple "instructor." At any rate, Northwestern University public relations representatives confirm that for someone teaching a night course, the proper title is "lecturer", not "adjunct professor."

The pressure appears to have compelled Seals to drop this claimed credential from his campaign literature (as well he should). Yesterday, many of us in the 10th District received yet another apparently District-wide mail drop, which piece centered on the Iraq war. As we've noted before, The Seal Pup can't seem to wean himself away from the war as a campaign issue, and while the war is obviously still an important concern (just ask our troops who are risking their lives overseas), as a campaign issue, the better the war appears to be going (and even the most jaded of Dems seem to acknowledge the amazing progress that has been made in the past several months), it continues to lose its punch as a rallying issue for Dem campaigns.

However, nowhere in the four pages of Seals propaganda does it mention Northwestern, or his claim to "currently" be a professor. While it's still (for some insane reason) on his website, it could be his webmaster is on vacation, or is not talking to the flaks who are doing the literature drops.

So, Seals may be growing some horse sense and trying to diminish the controversy by removing his claim in his current literature. But, simply dropping a claim without explanation does not remove the issue of his veracity and credibility.

We've all seen how trying to skirt an issue that might have been easily addessed early in an election cycle can harm even the most polished and impressive of candidates, such as Barack Obama, with regard to his ham-handed handling of the "Uncle" Tony Rezko scandal. Some pundits have blamed Obama's current perception problems with Rezko simply on not being forthcoming enough, when it mattered. Hillary has pounced on the issue, and for anyone not living under a rock, we all see how it has affected Obama's otherwise star-struck campaign.

Jay Footlik is no Hillary Clinton (even though he worked for Billary), and Dan Seals is no Barack Obama. But you can bet that Team Mark Kirk is not going to let Seals' claims fade into the sunset as the general election approaches, assuming that Seals can weather the professor-gate scandal in the primary, which remains to be seen.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

The Seals latest mailer depicts soldiers marching off into battle. They appear to be equipped in a similar fashion to soldiers in the Korean War and not equipped and dressed as they currently are in Iraq.

Any experts on this subject?

In the meantime I still await for an explanation of Seals' current employment. If he is unemployed he should simply just say so.

Portraying oneself as successful doesn't necessarily mean they are successful.

Louis G. Atsaves

Anonymous said...

Take a bow, TA, for continuing to demand truthfulness from Dan Seals. While we still are a long way from the truth about who IS Dan Seals, at least he knows that lying about one's work record opens up issues about one's ethical record as well. As Mr. Atsaves points out, Seals needs to do more than just say that he's been successful in his past employment, it needs to be truthful and verified. So what else is suspect from Dan Seals? I have a hunch that a whole lot more is going to become public very soon.

Anonymous said...

TA writes, "the amazing progress that has been made in the past several months"

...We have to also acknowledge why 'progress' has been made and there are two reasons -- neither of which is sustainable.

First, there were more troops on the ground. Common sense and historical perspective tells us the more authority figures you have patrolling an area the calmer things will be. It's true of troops in an occupation just as it is of cops on the beat or neighborhood watch folks checking up on their block.

As soldiers hit the already-extended limit of their tours, the so-called surge had to end. The soldiers and Marines could no longer be kept in the field and there weren't enough personnel to replace them. That's why this so-called surge ended at the same time as the tour limit of the first troops to arrive for the "surge".

Second, and this is unfortunately an aspect that has garnered almost no media mention, part of Gen. Petraeus' strategy simultaneous to the increase in troops was to literally pay off insurgent groups. In some cases he got the "insurgents" work or offered them training or goods. In other cases, he literally gave them extortion payments in order to keep them quiet.

And yes, all this is verifiable through Gen. Petraeus' Congressional testimony.

poop said...

"Dan Seals is the only candidate who has opposed the war from the very start and unequivocally supported a timetable for withdrawal"...?

I have never heard Jay speak in support of the war, in this election or any time previously. Just because Seals wants to transfer all of Barack's qualities to himself doesn't mean he should have the nerve to copy one of Obama's talking points without any applicability to his own campaign.

Team America said...

WOMA- you are right on the money, as Seals' quote is lifted straight from Obama's playbook. Obama loves to make that reference based on a speech I believe he gave when he was still an Illinois state senator.

But, what was Seals doing in 2003 when the war began? Was he teaching in Japan? Working for Sprint? GE? As a 'consultant'? The man has gone from job to job so many times in the past 5 years, I can't keep up. BUT, the point is, he was not a candidate for anything nor an elected official. Who knows what his position was on the war in 2003, but you can bet he wasn't out in public taking a stand on it. If he made any speeches, joined an anti-war group, or even wrote a simple letter to the editor, I've yet to see Seals trot it out in support of his anti-war credentials.

Thanks for pointing this out, WOMA, it's worth a follow-up post all by itself, I think.

Rob_N, I'm going to let others deconstruct your position further if they like, but suffice it to say, you simply can't even acknowledge the gains that have been made in Iraq, because you know that people like Seals have nothing else to campaign on. First, we were losing. Now, even if we aren't losing today, we are destined to lose in the future no matter what we do.

With all due respect, please take your defeatist attitude and stuff it.

Anonymous said...

I think that even Nancy "Looney Tunes Left" Pelosi and Harry "I Love The Daily Kos" Reid, have publically acknowledged there has been good progress and the surge has worked in Iraq. Um, I also think that's why the Iraq war has become the number 4 or 5 issue for Dems over the last 6 months.

Sorry rob_n, without Iraq as the number one issue, The Pup has nothing to talk about. He's just an oft unemployed, empty suit, who copies what Barry has to say. That might work in Chicago, but we're pretty smart up here in the 10th District.

Anonymous said...

You have to smile when you read the comments of rob_n. Like your buddy, Dan, you are one dimensional and mired in the past. I guess you can't comment on what TA is talking about today so, like your hero, you continue your very old, tired tirade on the failures in Iraq. Your hero is more tarnished than old silver. He can't reveal his past and he's asking the voters in this district to trust him with our country's future? Not in this district, not in any district.

So, how about it, rob_n, do you want to join the current discussion and tell us what your Dan was/is doing for gainful employment or do you just want to wallow in the past?

Anonymous said...

Dan is largely unemployed and all the political reporters laugh at "professor" Seals behind his back.

TA: Kudos to you for exposing his misleading voters. Does Seals know GE people are working against him?

Anonymous said...

How can Dan afford to live in a white collar suburb without a job?

It's time for Dan to show us just how serious he is about clean, honest government in Washington by releasing his taxes to show what he's been up to the last few years while running for Congress.

Also the media can no longer call him a marketing exec because he's unemployed.

Anonymous said...

Dan Seals: I paid myself $25,000 from my campaign and am unemployed for three years.

Elect me and I will do as much for you as I have for my career in the last 36 months.

Anonymous said...

TA: There's a new Seals mailer out, but yet again I didn't receive it. Do you have it?

Anonymous said...

Rob_n left a reasonable comment about the unsustainable stability in Iraq. Reality doesn't necessary equal defeatism, TA.