The Larry Kane Report

Some quick snapshots of Sir Paul McCartney and Larry Kane in the East Room of the White House.

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In the post below, I report that Sestak said “yes” when I followed up with the question, “Was it a high ranking job?” He did not.

He actually didn’t answer the question. When I asked him a few seconds later, “Was it big?, he answered the question with these  words:

“It was -never – let me not comment on that.. we had a closed comm”..

Also, from my perspective, sitting there with him,  his refusal to answer the question , “Was it Navy Secretary?”, lent more mystery to the actual job that was involved. In any event, all the other answers were not answered, except for the resounding YES when I asked him whether he was offered a job by the White House to pull out of the Senate race.

Incidentally, Sestak joins me at 9:30 on the Comcast Network Sunday.

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So how did it happen? How did a straightforward question and blunt answer bring anxiety to the White House? I’ll tell you the story.For over three months now, friends and others have asked me to recount the events of February 18^th of this year, when a single question from me to Congressman Joe Sestak unleashed a controversy that remains to this day. Is it a political issue? Is it illegal? I can’t answer those questions, but I can tell you how casually it all happened, and what basis I had for asking the question. Here’s the transcript:

“Larry Kane: I have a question for you. I don’t know how accurate this is but a lot of reports are that the party has tried very hard to get you out of this race.

Joe Sestak: Haha, yes.

LK: Were you ever offered a federal job to get out of this race?

JS: Yes.

LK: Was it the Navy Secretary?

JS: No comment. I – let me –

LK: Was it high-ranking?

JS: Let me just say that both here in Pennsylvania and down there, I was called quite a few times and all I’ve said is, look, I felt when a deal was made that it was hurting the democratic process, I got into this because I think that deal started getting us off the track of where the Democratic party should go. I would never get out for a deal. I’m in this for the Democratic principles and working families.

LK: Okay, but, was there a job offered to you by the White House?

JS: Ye-

LK: That’s what I want –

JS: Yes. Someone offered — yeah.

LK: It was big, right?

JS: It was — never — let me not comment on it. We had a closed comm–
LK: Yeah, but you’re going all the way.

JS: I’m in this all the way for the working family. Look, I love the Navy. It’s the best thing I ever did in my life except get married. It took me 8 years, I proposed to my wife, 8 years later she said yes. And have my beautiful daughter. But this is the next best job — to pay back this nation for having had those wonderful years in the Navy–

LK: Well, we’ve run out of time with the best question I had.”

And that was true. But why was I the first. There was buzz about this story since last summer. A few days before the February 18^th taping of Voice Of Reason for The Comcast Network, I was advised by two reliable sources that  someone in or close to the White House had dangled a high level job offer to Sestak, to give a clear path to Senator Specter for the nomination. I thought it would be a good thing to pose the question to Sestak in the upcoming interview.

The Sestak interview was the second in this contest. I interviewed Specter a week before.

I prepared for the program with an outline of questions. But on that Thursday I was having a very hectic day. I was a little overwhelmed with work. I forgot to put the question in my outline. Suddenly, with 90 seconds left, I remembered!

The news business can have moments that are so unpredictable. I knew the questionwas a good one, based on some really good sources, but I was flabbergasted when Sestak said “Yes.” There was no hesitation. No delay. He just said, “Yes.”

As the Congressman left the building, there was an obvious dilemma. The show wouldn’t air till Sunday the 21^st. The story could be big. I called Comcast executives. With their blessing, I broke the story with an audio interview on KYW Newsradio. But first there was work to do. I needed a White House response.

I called the White House Press Office. I played the interview for the individual who answered the phone. She said someone would call me back. A few minutes later, another individual called. She said the White House would call back with a reaction “shortly.” That was 3:45 in the afternoon.

The report aired all night without a White House response.

At 6:45 the next morning, 15 hours later, a Deputy Press Secretary called. She said, “You can say the White House says it’s not true.”

A similar call was placed to the Inquirer’s Tom Fitzgerald. Tom was in the studio during the show taping. He was following Sestak around, working on a feature story. He took the story to page one of the Friday Inquirer.

A few days ago, both of us were still wondering why it took the White House 15 hours to issue a simple denial.

The rest is history, peculiar history. The “job offer” story never became an issue in the campaign although some would suggest the story played well to Sestak’s argument that he was a real Democratic independent.

But on May 19^th, a day after his upset victory over Specter, the February interview became an internet hit. Republcans, arguing that it may have been a crime to offer a job in return for a withdrawal from a political contest.  Democrats, only recently, called for the truth on this story. The President, saying nothing was improper, promised a White House statement “shortly.”

The entire episode, now broadcast and printed around the nation, is also a popular item on the web.

There are several things I want you to know. I’m surprised that Washington reporters never asked the question in the first place, I’m surprised that Sestak answered so quickly when I posed the question.

But most of all, I’m stunned that a rather simple question, turned into a political firestorm. You never really know where the pursuit of news will take you.

The story may not be over. Republicans will want more than just a White House counsel’s report.

But the beginning to this saga may be more interesting than the end.

One thing I do know is that, as the question was being asked, Joe Sestak never hesitated. In a split second, he just said, “yes.”

Comments(174)

Arlen Specter has been on the scene for 45 years in Pennsylvania.. so his defeat is really the end of an amazing career. In a way he ran into the perfect political storm – an outrage against incumbents. the party switch, and of course an aggressive race run by Joe Sestak. In the end, Pa. voters decided 5 terms was enough. The challenge ahead is for the party establishment, most of which supported Specter, to rally round the winner and face off against the well financed Republican Pat Toomey. Democrats already face the possible loss of a Senate seat in Delaware. The healing process is critical because Sestak-Toomey may, with the Tea party, the social battles, and the big money make this Sestak-Specter race mellow by comparison.

For Toomey, the task is huge: He must convince a state with a one million Democrat voter advantage that he can get Democratic and Independent voters. Otherwise, he may be doomed to defeat. How he handles the next several months will determine his fate.

Final note for now: Bob Brady and Ed Rendell stood by Specter to the end. Not so for the White House, which abandoned Specter in the final days. The same thing happened with Jon Corzine in New Jersey. The White House needs to reaffirm it’s commitment to endorsed candidates. Otherwise, there may remain a lack of trust from within the President’s own party.

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No joke. The Flyers could defeat either Joe Sestak or Arlen Specter, leaders of the nastiest Democratic Senate primary in recent history. The Flyer’s game against Montreal begins at 7 P.M. Tuesday. one hour before the polls close. Specter needs a big city vote. Sestak needs to score in the suburbs. The truth is that the Flyer’s game may keep many voters away from the polls, especially in that crucial final hour of voting.

It is tough enough to get people to come out for primary elections. Now there’s another excuse. In a close race, the Flyer’s may win.

Now that I’ve offered a bizarre twist to campaign 2010, here are some observations on this weird election.

First: Arlen Specter did change parties so could have a better shot at winning reelection. The spot highlighting his remarks on this, the spot that may have changed the race and given Sestak a dramatic comeback, is hardly fresh news. But it reinforces a stereotype that all politicians will do anything to win.  The spot also reinforces the simple fact that most voters don’t bother to have a clue about what’s really going on.  So, obviously, it took a clever commercial to convince voters that Specter made the switch to help his reelection chances. Do you get my drift?

Second: the spot about Sestak’s military career highlights the facts that his views were not appreciated by the Bushies who took over the Pentagon. Truth or fiction? Neither. Probably a bit more tabloid than truth, since it is common knowledge that Sestak, a favorite of the Clintons, was not loved by the Bush Republicans.

It’s been a rugged race, and the big winner, for now, is Republican Senatorial hopeful Pat Toomey. While the Democrats cannibalize each other, Toomey can save his cash and Tea Party support for the fall. And what a feast he inherits – sound bites from both Sestak and Specter verbally savaging each other.

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