I only hear from one of the two serious Congressional candidates. Charlie Dent, the incumbent, has always been willing to send news releases and speak to me, long before I had my mind made up about him. In contrast, John Callahan's campaign not only refuses to send me media missives, but won't even respond to legitimate inquiries. I've been shunned. So my opinion of him, which was pretty high, has naturally deteriorated. After what I heard today, it sunk a little lower.Dent's latest gambit is an robo-call aimed at Callahan's $8 million mistake.
Dent's campaign bluntly summarizes how this happened: "In 2004, the City of Bethlehem was the defendant in a civil trial waged by attorney John Karoly over the 1998 shooting of suspected drug dealer John Hirko by Bethlehem police. The city had already been cleared of wrongdoing by the Pennsylvania Attorney General. After months, the jury deadlocked – meaning the city as defendant would win the case. But instead of accepting a hung jury – and forcing Karoly to settle or start his lawsuit over again – Callahan inexplicably allowed a split-verdict 'poll' vote of the jurors. The city lost the vote, 10-2. That’s right; John Callahan snatched defeat from the jaws of victory."
Callahan then negotiated a nearly $8 million settlement with Karoly, who currently is on his way to some Club Fed.
Callahan's campaign did speak to Pa2010, and manager Justin Schall tries to minimizes a serious misjudgment: “The city of Bethlehem elected [Callahan] twice after that. These misleading negative attacks by Dent aren’t helping create jobs for families in the Valley, sadly it’s just more Washington games from a career insider.”
I see. Mike Schweder, who was Bethlehem City Council President at the time, is certainly no "career insider." In fact, he's even a Democrat. He called Callahan's action “the most stupid decision anyone in my lifetime has made.”
Callahan 's blunder required a bond issue, with the largest payments coming AFTER his time as mayor would be long over, and adding $800,000 more in costs to the taxpayers.
Wait 'till he gets in Congress. You ain't seen nothin' yet.
Click here to listen to the robo-call.
31 comments:
Tell me,
Is Dent running for Mayor of Bethlehem?
He sure does not sound like a congressional candidate.
a little disingenuous Bernie about you just learning about this considering you blogged this exact story from the Dent camp on May 11.
Actually, I knew about this story when it happened years ago. I thought it was idiotic then and think it is idiotic now. When I speak about what I just heard today, I am referring to the robo-call audio. Perhaps it is a poor choice of words on my part, I'll concede. On May 11, there was no robo-call campaign based on this blunder. That's what I just heard.
Bernie
Why are you not condemning the robo calls as you always do when you do not like the message?? Now, robo calls are ok with you?
Lets not damn Mr. Callahan. His solicitor and political inside Jack Spirk should have advised him to not do the deal.
Robo-calls are not OK w/ me. I don't like them. I also think they are ineffective or may even work against you.
But what really gets me going are the anonymous robo-calls, like the one directed at Lou hershman or ones fdirected at Peg ferraro and Angle. This one has a disclaimer.
"Lets not damn Mr. Callahan. His solicitor and political inside Jack Spirk should have advised him to not do the deal."
Really? Who's the captain of the ship?
does this surprize anyone - the boy mayor and his merry band of misadvisors are the poster children for gross mismanagement
has anyone seen this guy on the job lately? nothing but an empty parking spot and office
Really? This BS again.
Hindsight is always 20/20. But where was his legal advice? Spirk and Co. should have provided better advice. Also, the city had outside counsel/insurance counsel working on this matter. Where were they?
You can't expect a non-lawyer to make these decisions.
yawn...the progoganda gets more frequesnt from BO as election day approaches
No offense Bernie but you are so far in the tank why should Callahan send you anything. It would be like Dent sending me nude pictures of his wife
Oh and Robo calls really don't work
Donald,
I'm no expert, but I don't think robo-calls are effective and may work against a candidate, except for those innoucuous GOTV calls or calls about different votes.
Callahan is free to run his own campaign. Although I am in the tank, I would run his news releases as a service to my readers. But I would also have my own editorial observations, as I did with Bennett. Callahan's team probably prefers a more uncritical medium. That's their right.
Good to see Dent is siding with the jack booted thugs.
Bernie,
Callahan and his team prefer to hide
So in essence the jury voted 10-2 that the police were in the wrong. Do we want to sweep it under the rug?
Callahan and his team prefer to hide
The last two months are all that matter. See Joe Sestak. The incumbent is on the attack which is never a good sign.
"See Joe Sestak."
I definitely see Joe Sestak running and hiding right now. When is he going to tell the truth about what happened with the White House?
Bernie is a buddy of Spirk so he will defend his poor advice to the mayor.
To Don: Can I get nude pictures of your wife?
Hey don't hate the playah -- hate the game.
Corbett's going to start a state grand jury investigation into the crime Sestak claims was committed.
It's a ticking time-bomb for the Obama administration. Sestak swore on the honor code at the Naval Academy. He has knowledge of an alleged federal crime and is remaining cute and silent. He knows what was offered and by whom.
Offering a job is not illegal nor is it quid pro quo. These red-faced disciples of Sean Hannity are hilarious.
Your boy Dent voting against the repeal of Dont Ask Dont Tell. Nice job supporting him Bernie.
He did not listen to the voters. 78% of the public wants this bill repealed.
Your blog serves to aid the reelection of bigots.
Isn't it just a little disingenuous to say you had a high opinion of John Callahan? Really, you've beat him up every chance you get
Dent's vote against the repeal of DADT shows he's party first, not country first.
Time to get rid of all these old white guys.
"Isn't it just a little disingenuous to say you had a high opinion of John Callahan?"
No. When he first announced, I stated he was a quality candidate, the best ever to run agaianst Dent. I also have said that if Dent were to run against Callahan for Bethlehem mayor, I'd vote for Callahan. When he appeared at Northwest LL on opening day, I was complimentary and made a point of noting the time he spends coaching his sone. I have had high praise for his wife. I have discouraged nasty personal attacks and will delete them.
But I have been highly critical of his unwillingnes to take a stand on a major issue like the health care overhaul, which he refused to do until it became law. I criticized his supoport for a sales tax increase in Pa., which is a regressive tax that hurts people on low and middle incomes. I have criticized him for refusing to provide his position on a VAT, or national sales tax. I believe the Hirko criticism is fair.
So it's been a mixed bag. My opinion of Callahan has gone down bc he has snubbed me. That's his right, but it's only natural that I would think less of someone who makes an effort to ignore me. He's not jusy ignoring me. He's also ignoring around 1400 local weekday readers.
I do acknowledge a bias in favor of Dent for Congress. He impresses me like no other leader locally. What surprised me most about him was his command of foreign policy issues. He was willing to speak to me long ago, when I was very critical of his stances in '06. He earned my support and I am proud to be one of the Democrats who will vote for him this Fall.
It's not always about party.
Great, he has an ex convict disbarred menatlly ill guy voting and spinning for him (YOU Bernie).
Something Dent should be proud of.
campaigns that use robo calls ought to be fined for disturbing people in their homes. robo calls are slimy.
perhaps dent can explain his vote on don't ask don't tell. encouraging discrimination is not good for a congressman.
I cannot permit a comment like the one just posted, which threatenms violence.
I like his foreign policy strength too. If we elect an R as POTUS next time, maybe they can move him to State, where we can exploit his strengths and then get a pro-lifer in his place.
Win - Win.
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