While it may be a case of 'too little, too late' for Jay Footlik, the Waukegan News-Sun today endorsed Jay Footlik as the preferred candidate for the 10th District Democratic primary. What the paper had to say about Seals, however, was more telling than the reasons it gave for endorsing Footlik, about whom the News-Sun stated "brings a new perspective to the district and would make a formidable opponent."
On the other hand, in the News-Sun's opinion, the Seal Pup had his chance, and should get out of the way to give Footlik a chance to take out incumbent Republican Congressman Mark Kirk. The News-Sun stated, "we believe Seals had his chance in what turned out to be a Democratic year in a swing district." Translation: Seals couldn't get the job done in what was largely a 'perfect storm' year for Dems across the nation. If he couldn't do it two years ago, what makes anyone think he can do it now? This viewpoint is nothing new, however, and is pretty much what the Footlik campaign has been saying for months.
Of course, Seals has a different opinion. However, his most often-cited credential for running for Congress is that he has previously run for Congress. In his appearances, somewhere within the first 20 seconds of his stump speech, usually is a reminder that last time around he took 47% of the vote. Seals belives that this anomaly is the primary reason people should vote for him, in that he has the best chance to take out Mark Kirk. He also believes that he is 'starting' with 47% of the vote and can only go up.
I think we here at Team America have a different view. Our conjecture is that Seals, if he is the Dem candidate, will actually pull less votes than he did last time around. Seals probably hasn't looked up from his resume-padding activities to notice that Mark Kirk has been EVERYWHERE lately, getting plenty of 'earned media' (and rightly so) for his efforts on combating Lake Michigan pollution, obtaining $100 million in funding for the new Navy VA hospital, sounding the alarm to the State of Illinois to provide matches to keep federal transit funds, and many other activities to benefit the 10th District.
Meanwhile, what has Dan Seals done, besides campaign? His political resume doesn't even match up well against most folks who run for state representative, much less the United States Congress. Has he had experience as an elected official on any level (even Dog Catcher?) Where has his community involvement been over the last two years? What has he done to benefit the 10th District? The answer to all of the above: Zippo.
As we have tried to make clear above: Running for Congress is Not a Credential For Running For Congress.
The people of the 10th District deserve better than Dan Seals, and while Jay Footlik has more going for him than Dan, it's our opinion that we can do no better than Mark Kirk.
ANOTHER FOOTLIK ENDORSEMENT: Another paper, Jewish Chicago, endorsed Jay Footlik, although it had an even stronger endorsement for Mark Kirk. Jewish Chicago doesn't think much of Dan Seals ("a very liberal Democrat"), and stated that Footlik is "highly preferable to Seals who is not our friend."
02.03.08 PROFESSOR-GATE UPDATE: I just came across this blog link this morning, but it's a post from the Pioneer Press blog called "Lake Affect" that is the most critical statement coming from a major media source that I've seen yet.
My question is, why didn't all these newspapers that made endorsements of Dan Seals figure out the Professor-Gate angle BEFORE they made their endorsements??? Even if the information hadn't easily been made available here at Team America, even some MINIMAL fact checking on Seals' credentials would have revealed this issue.
I think the MSM needs to acknowledge some blame for handing out endorsements when they haven't done their homework. If you have the ink, and the established credibility of a major newspaper, you owe it to the readers to do your homework before you make a recommendation that carries weight with its readers and the public.
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36 comments:
Shockingly, the facts are stubborn things wench won't let me post any facts on her website.
The News sun figured out that:
Jay Footlik had a good resume and
Dan Seals padded his.
TA: Good work breaking the Sealsgate Resume Scandal.
Thanks for your excellent reporting! The pup had his chance in 2006 and Kirk is everywhere. The pup should go back to sitting in his living room and think about earning a living. I still wonder how he puts food on the table for his family. Can you or any of your readers tell us where Mrs. pup works?
The biggest way to elect mark in the fall is to elect hillary on tuesday. Since Mac got the nom, thinking of voting for her to screw barack.
Dan's done.
Anon 3:52- No shocker that the self-proclaimed defender of free speech doesn't.
Anon 4:36- The News-Sun got it right, but probably for the wrong reason. Seals is a liar. Not sure the News-Sun realizes that.
Anon 4:48- last I hear, Mrs. Seals works at Kraft and has been supporting the family for some time, if you don't count Seals' campaign-generated paycheck. Of course, his 3-month deal at ThePoint.com may have been a sweetheart gig for no work, but that wouldn't be quite legal, would it?
Mrs. Pup does work for Kraft. I believe she is a fairly senior executive.
When Seals was asked at one of his events what he had done to change people’s lives, he said, “Being a stay at home dad for three years and the influence it had on my children.” The next time he was asked the question, teaching entered the realm. If he can’t hit the curve ball when it is thrown at him at one of his own events, imagine what Mark Kirk will do to him if he gets past Jay.
And, when Seals says he got 47% of the vote in 2006, what he really got was 93,000 tallies, which is 5,000 less than Lee Goodman received in 2004, another Presidential year like 2008.
Dan or Jay will need at least 135,000 votes to get 50 percent plus one against Kirk in November. Seals will be lucky to do as well as Goodman did four years ago. Jay could be a different story. Let’s hope he gets the chance.
TA,
More for the resume-gate file. Dan Seals has claimed since 2005 when he started running for Congress that he was a Presidential Management Fellow in the Clinton Administration. How's that possible if the program didn't exist until 2003?
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/11/20031121-7.html
Did Seals work for Bush or is he lying about the name of his position?
TH
Holy Cow Batman! I think you've just broken another scandal right here on TA's blog. So Seals is a Bush fellow?
BD
TA:
Goodman (Kirk"s opponent in 2004) got more votes than Seals? Seals spent ten times more than Goodman!
TA,
Jay Footlik will win this primary and will defeat Kirk in 08. Internal polling shows a major slide in Seals' numbers. Footlik is coming on strong -- and nobody knows about his DC based field strategy consultants. This will be a close finish!
TH
Dan Seals sent out an email touting the endorsement of NOW, the National Organization for Women.
Yet NOW issued a press release last year in support of Mark Kirk!!!
http://www.now.org/press/05-07/05-04.html
"NOW applauds Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) and Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), for introducing the bill, and all the members of the 110th Congress who have made a commitment to protect those who are targeted for hate violence."
The PMF Program was established by Executive Order in 1977, and was previously called Presidential Management Internship (PMI) program.
I am no Dan Fan, and would never vote for him, but it is legitimate and legal to pay himself a salary from his campaign fund up to the amount of his previous salary or the salary he would earn in his elected position, whichever is lower. How his supporters feel about this, and if they know, is a bigger issue than the fact that he is doing it.
It might be legal, but I don't know if I would call it legitimate.
Those being asked to donate can decide if it's legitimate. Running for Congress is a full time job.
are those that are being asked to donate being told that the money is going into the Pups pockets? If not, than I don't see how it's legitimate.
This is giving me a chuckle.
So, let me get this straight. The Pup asks people for money. People blindly make donations to The Pup's campaign. The Pup turns around and puts the campaign money he collects into his personal pocket. The Pup doesn't tell the people who are donating the money to the campaign that in reality it is going into his personal pocket. The campaign money that makes its way into his personal pocket allows The Pup to remain unemployed, so that he doesn't have to work, while he is out asking for people to donate more money to his campaign, so that he can put the money into his personal pocket.
The Pup is engaging in a campaign finance circle jerk. This issue is going to be more fun than professor-gate and the tax return issue combined...
It's very progressive to be a house husband, and running for Congress is a good choice for Dan so he can keep his mind active.
By the way the stubborn things wench has a video of Dan's speech on hers website. Mostly he spent a lot of time pointing his finger.
I'm surprised that the Chicago machine doesn't reach all the way up to Waukegan.
I found another little scandalous fact about Dan Seals. His website (and changes to it) used to be indexed at the Internet Archives
http://www.archive.org/web/web.php.Now access has been blocked by the Dan Seals team. The message at the archives is: "We're sorry, access to http://dansealsforcongress.com/* has been blocked by the site owner via robots.txt."
Isn't this somewhat dishonest?
Dishonest, unemployed, and a carpetbagger. For some reason, I don't think those are qualifications for our next congressman.
New Seals commercial:
"Hello, I am Dan Seals. I've been unemployed for over three years so donate to my campaign so I can buy groceries. Hell, I already siphoned $25 grand from the kitty to pocket myself. Just check the FEC.
If I become your congressman, it will be my first real job in over three years."
What's not to love? Republicans will have a field day with this. The slide is happening --
Jay Footlik for Congress
Don't worry Dan, we recorded all of your web site claims.
"Mark Kirk has been EVERYWHERE lately, getting plenty of 'earned media' (and rightly so) for his efforts on combating Lake Michigan pollution"
Mark Kirk has done nothing to combat Lake Michigan pollution, he is simply an opportunist taking credit for the hard work of the environmental groups doing the real work. Of course this is a step forward from Porter but hardly makes Kirk the vanguard of environmental activity.
Our group recently filed suit against the FBI for operating a firearms training range that discharges lead bullets into Lake Michigan.
Where is Kirk on this issue? Maybe he is waiting until our suit provokes a change in the FBI's range management practices before he takes a position.
We had constantly tried to get his attention on the Fort Sheridan issue of the Army illegally transferring contaminated federal property without US EPA concurrence. Not one bit of help there either.
Hardly leadership on the environment.
Steven B. Pollack, Attorney
Executive Director, Blue Eco Legal Council
www.ecoesq.com
"Nothing." There is that word again, screeched out by Liberal Democrat Attorneys desperately trying to destroy Mark Kirk. That same word appears on the "Ellen" site which wrongfully claimed that the new Federal Budget does "nothing" for the poor, uninsured, etc. etc. etc., ignoring the monies in the budget for such purposes.
The same Mark Kirk who has bee trying to get the radioactive waste from the Zion lakeshore shipped to a Nevada burial site? The same Mark Kirk who arranged for millions of dollars to dredge and clean Waukegan harbor, and now the Waukegan Democrats turned down the last batch of funds in a snit, preferring a polluted harbor.
The same Mark Kirk who campaigned against the State of Indiana waste discharging?
The same Mark Kirk who took the city of Milwaukee to task for their discharge of waste in to Lake Michigan?
The same Mark Kirk . . .
Oh, I could go on and on. But my fellow attorneys who are Liberal Democrats perched high up on their ivory towers never see all this type of activity and much, much more. Perhaps they sit so high that they close their eyes in fear of falling.
They prefer to shriek out "nothing" and pretend that it is a fact.
I can see after the primary that intelligent political discussion with the likes of them will be impossible. Too bad.
Louis G. Atsaves
This is an earnest question to the Seal-clubbers:
If Seals is such a liar, so young and inexperienced, and would be so poor as a Congressman, how do you explain Kirk getting only 53% against a 34-year-old first-time candidate, after outspending him by a large margin and in a presidential year with John Kerry at the top of the Dem ticket?
oops, strike the Kerry part, can't keep the years straight
qwerty,
That's actually pretty easy to explain. It's a more interesting question to ask: how do you explain the fact that Dan Seals lost by 7 points?
You are correct, Mark Kirk got 53.4% -- nearly 7 points better than Seals in a district that went for Kerry by 6. Dan Seals raised $2 million -- more than any opponent Kirk has faced since FEC-fined candidate Lauren Beth Gash. Kirk spent $3 million.
No Party support came through for Kirk -- either manpower (all directed to McSweeney and Roskam) or money. Seals on the other hand was given the Scakowsky and Durbin field and fundraising teams, along with a couple hundred thousand dollars from the national Democratic Party.
Dozens of Republicans lost. It was a tsunami across the country.
And yet, Dan Seals lost by 7 points when others swallowed their GOP opponents -- in districts that lean more Republican!!!
So again, how could Dan Seals lose by 7 points, qwerty? The answer is simple.
Qwerty will come back and try to say a) he didn't get enough financial support from the Party and b) he would've overcome Kirk with a few more weeks of the campaign.
a) He had $2 mil and party support. This was a larger challenge than FEC-fined Lauren Beth Gash in a FAR worse year. Also, Kirk didn't have Republican Party ads paid for him. It's equal footing.
b) Time was not a factor. According to Seals own polling, the district knew who he was -- his name ID was nearly maxed out and his message was saturated. Voters knew who both candidates were and what they stood for on Election Day. They voted for Kirk by 7 points when they voted for Dems around the country.
Mr. Pollack - If you think for one minute that Dan Seals, a guy who couldn't find Fort Sheridan on a map, is going to be better for environmental causes than Mark Kirk, you've lost your mind. You are doing more harm to your organization and your cause by supporting an unemployed, intellectually bankrupt candidate like Dan Seals. It's guys like you who loose sight of the forest through the trees. The sad thing is that your heart is probably in the right place when it comes to the environment, but when you support an empty suit like Seals, you are not part of the solution, you're part of the problem.
If tonight's football game taught me anything, it's that the favorite better keep an eye on the underdog.
Footlik=Eli Manning???? I hope so.
"Seals who is not our friend" Wow. The Jews certainly have an incredible disdain for the Pup, don't they? It makes you wonder what type of self haters are left backing that guy.
Anon 10:55, I find it despicable as a Jew and a Footlik supporter that you bring ignorant generalizations into this that have no relevance in this conversation. I challenge you to prove how the disdain for Mr. Seals has anything to do with the background of either him or Mr. Footlik, or any voters for that matter. The discussion going on relates to Seals himself and his resume(or lack thereof). If the "meshuganah" piece wasn't proof enough, the voters of the 10th will not stand for the targeting of any religious or minority group.
Fransn zol esn zayn layb.
"The Army illegally transferring property without EPA concurrence..."
Ha! If you lived in the 10th (which Seals does NOT) you would know -- like everyone who does live here -- that Kirk transferred the Ft. Sheridan bluffs to Open Lands to keep from developers.
Glad to know Seals would have opposed this! could come up in the campaign.
Thank you!
And, isn't this the very same EPA that Ellen & Friends love to say that is in the back pocket of the Bus administration, was soft on Lake Michigan regulation as to BP, and can never do anything right in general, except to cite to when it's convenient?
Congressman Kirk's father passed away this morning. Condolences from a liberal.
Thanks, on behalf of Mark. I heard that his dad was not doing well.
The transfer of bluff-top to the Openlands Organization is not really the coup that Kirk claimed. This is property that could not be developed because it is too close to the edge of the eroding bluff.
There is an accepted construction setback zone that is the rate of erosion (10" per year is the long-term rate for the north shore bluffs) times the useful life of the structure.
The new Navy housing can be expected to last 50-100 years so ceding 100' of bluff top did not have a lot of "cost" to Kirk or the Navy.
I am not so much for the Democratic alternative, I think both political houses have failed us on the environment. I just get irked seeing Kirk act like he is out front on these issues.
Its more like he jumps in front of other people's parades.
Steven Pollack, Attorney
Executive Director, Blue Eco Legal Council
Steven Pollack
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