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Longtime Lieberman mouthpiece Dan Gerstein is portrayed in Politico as a "Democratic political consultant" whenever they need someone to run down the Democrats or, as today, tout the Republicans.
Providing the Village conventional wisdom on The Summit: The Summitting for anyone who missed TradMed’s sloppy coverage yesterday, Politico makes good use of Dan Gerstein in an "across the spectrum" account:
But in this case, the tie goes to Republicans, according to operatives on both sides of the aisle — because the stakes were so much higher for Democrats trying to build their case for ramming reform through using a 51-vote reconciliation tactic.
“I think it was a draw, which was a Republican win,” said Democratic political consultant Dan Gerstein. “The Republican tone was just right: a respectful, substantive disagreement, very disciplined and consistent in their message.”
Who still hires this hack, and how can they defend that now? It’s time for any Democrats — actual Democrats, not Connecticut for Lieberman Independent Democrats from Connecticut — who pay this guy to fire him. He doesn’t speak for any Democrats I know, and his consultant credentials are constantly used to undermine Democratic party efforts.
Who does Dan Gerstein work for? What Democrats write him checks? And why won’t they fire him, since he commits this kind of political malpractice repeatedly?
Alternatively — if Dan Gerstein doesn’t consult with any Democrats, why does Politico allow him to self-identify as a "Democratic political consultant?" Has Politico verified that credential lately?
27 Comments
I’m actually serious here. I would very much like to know which Democrats Dan Gerstein consults with. Who writes his checks?
I know you have a google alert, Dan. Why not tell me who hires you anymore?
That’s a very very good question Teddy.
It sounded strange when I read it today. Why would a D say something like that, much less in the immediate spin-shed of the event?
Then I thought, ah, it’s Dan Gerstein. But you’ve really hit it, who specifically hires this guy?
Not sure it would matter to Politico, they’re just interested in the tit for tat horse race non-sense.
well, here’s his client list from his website. doesn’t provide dates he did his consulting.
ha! if you click on the “blog” link, the last entry was on Saturday, February 23, 2008.
danger stein: cutting edge consultant.
golly gee wiz, dangerstein has a blog
Well, on his client list page, under political campaigns, there’s this:
Maybe someone should call Gilibrand’s office and ask if this chowderhead still handles her p.r. work.
Who’s a “Republican consultants” Democrats could hire to to counter his spin.
Politico??? Please!
All of the political campaigns on his client list look ancient. Kireten Gilibrand for Congress? Really? No repeat customer there apparently.
Dan Gernstein is just your standard shill for hire. He is essentially a Republican masquerading as a Democrat, but isn’t that true of most Democratic officeholders and the Democratic Establishment nowadays.? Is he backstabbing? Of course. But haven’t Democrats in this Congress and this Administration been backstabbing progressives, the Democratic base, and most of the country’s voters from the get-go? This is why I can’t get too upset about Gerstein. He is just a minor symptom of a much wider and worse disease.
My, my, my, aren’t we testy. It’s his opinion. Maybe it’s the truth. If you have spinach on your tooth, do you want your dining partner to ignore it and let you walk around like a dope? And if it’s not true, well, maybe people can figure it out for themselves.
My, my, my, aren’t we testy. It’s Teddy’s opinion. Maybe it’s the truth. If you have spinach on your tooth, do you want your dining partner to ignore it and let you walk around like a dope? And if it’s not true, well, maybe people can figure it out for themselves.
Thanks Teddy.
As long as asshole like this guy and Mark Halprin get trotted out as “experts” or “very serious people” it is nice to have somebody pull their covers.
lol. Hi Dan.
Democratic political consultants who are paid by members of the Democratic party to advance the Democratic party should not express views like this to outlets like Politico, because they get used to frame a false narrative of “both sides of the aisle” thinking it was a GOP win.
It wasn’t a GOP win unless you were listening to the traditional media parrot GOP talking points. Or Dan Gerstein.
yeah, probably.
She used to be exactly the kind of Blue Dog Congressperson DanGerstein would love: Liebermanesque. In her new larger role as a Senator, she’s better. But she still has drawn a very progressive, peace-oriented, worker-friendly opponent in the primary: Jon Tasini.
He’s doing more than that, though — he’s backstabbing the Democratic establishment and the party’s President (or presidential nominee; see video). That’s a good deal more transgressive than beating up hippies. It’s the kind of behavior that should shut the wallets of Democratic officeholders and candidates, especially those favored by the Washington establishment.
Hey oldie!
Yes, but why should I care? The Republicans are crazy and dishonest in their way. And the Democrats in theirs. They not only don’t support our agenda, they actively subvert it. So again why should I care that one liar is sticking it to another group of liars?
Well, I guess you could say “why should I care about that” in regard to any post hereabouts. I can’t explain why should you care.
But FDL has a long, storied history with DanGerstein, from the Lamont campaign. I didn’t go into all that in explaining who Dan is, and why I therefore care about his new dissembling, and I probably should have. Sorry about that.
In that case, maybe we’re better off with Dangerstein in KG’s corner.
Tasini seems like the kind of guy who needs more airtime.
Funny, didn’t he write a diary here, recently, advocating passage of the ERA amendment?
He’s done several Seminal diaries recently and some of us are very pleased to see them.
Teddy. I think this is a great question. If you don’t hear from him next week let us know. Maybe we can call him and ask.
Why the consternation? It’s says right in the quoted news article:
“Democratic political consultant Dan Gerstein”
He is an occasional democratic voter that provides consultant services for Politico and other far-right wing ‘news’ outlets.
Yeah, Dan, because that’s what the meeting was for, for the Republicans to be nice and cordial. Are you kidding me, the Republicans won a draw because they were polite. What about the fact they had no substance whatsoever. Ladies and gentemen, exhibit A as to why the media sucks!