Sean Bielat not running for MA Senate, launching PAC & supporting conservative candidates instead

Sean Bielat announced this afternoon that he had decided not to enter the race for the special election for the Massachusetts Senate.

Sean is continuing his work with OneClickPolitics.com, as well as "[l]aunching a Political Action Committee (PAC) focused on vetting and supporting New England candidates who can do the most to revitalize the GOP and begin to give voters real choices at the polls."

He had formed an exploratory committee but ultimately decided that this year's election was "simply not the right time for our family:"

What Sean Bielat is Doing [UPDATED]

The exciting roller coaster of Massachusetts politics continues...

Ever since Scott Brown shocked the heck out of everyone by declining to run for this year's special election for the Massachusetts Senate race to fill John Kerry's seat (despite all indications that he was in a strong position for that race), there has been a lot of speculation about who would run for the seat, and whether any of the Republicans had a chance.

Today, my phone and email blew up with reporters wanting to know if Sean Bielat, for whose Congressional campaign for MA-4 I had worked on last year, was indeed running for the seat.

A number of media outlets reported today that Sean is running; however, that is not quite accurate.

My plans for world domination are proceeding nicely

Forgive me this little bit of bragging, but I can't help but think this is pretty cool:

SocialSphere | The #MAPoli Top 25 of 2012

For Massachusetts voters, Red Sox fans, and anyone in a blue state

In all the election coverage I've read in the past month or so, one of the posts that stuck out as making a particularly good argument was written by Cat del Valle Castellanos at CNN.

In the post, Castellanos responds to a recent CNN piece about undecided young female voters, and says that she had made a choice, and that she was voting for Mitt Romney.

Rejecting any suggestion that she was merely adopting the politics of her Republican strategist father, Castellanos goes on to articulate several well-reasoned arguments for her support for Romney, including this passage:

This ad may ruffle some feathers...

...especially up here in Massachusetts.

Click below to see why...

Latest Sean Bielat ad: "Joe Kennedy: A Legacy He Didn't Build"

The latest web ad for Sean Bielat's campaign for Massachusetts' Fourth Congressional District, "Joe Kennedy: A Legacy He Didn't Build," launches today, and you can view it below:

ICYMI: Sean Bielat's Remarks on Benghazi

Sean Bielat, candidate for Massachusetts' Fourth Congressional District, wrote an post earlier this week for RedState regarding his thoughts on the situation in Libya. If you missed it, it's worth a read:

More on Joe Kennedy's Ignorance about Israel

Last week, I wrote a post about how the Democratic candidate for Massachusetts' Fourth Congressional District, Joe Kennedy III (yes, one of those Kennedys), had taken the the unacceptable position that the capital of Israel was Tel Aviv. 

Video of Kennedy's ridiculous statement made the rounds of the blogosphere (see Moe Lane's RedState post here), but Kennedy has not attempted to clarify his words (or, more likely, his handlers haven't let any journalists close enough to ask him any real questions). The fact that delegates at the DNC were caught on video loudly booing a vote to reinstate language in the Democratic platform that affirmed Jerusalem as Israel's capital further adds to the growing criticism that the Democrats are not as supportive of Israel as they claim.

Today, Seth Mandel has an excellent, "must-read" post at Commentary regarding Kennedy's statement and some broader related issues pertaining to the MA-4 election:

Unacceptable: Kennedy says capital of Israel is Tel Aviv [VIDEO]

In a recent television debate with his Democratic primary opponents, MA-4 Congressional candidate Joe Kennedy III was asked about the capital of Israel.

Shockingly - especially for a candidate who professes to support Israel - Kennedy replied that the capital was Tel Aviv, and even confirmed his answer when the host questioned him on it:

Awww. Poor Obama. Paul Ryan is stealing all of his thunder.

Lots of reasons to smile.

The internet exploded with excitement since Mitt Romney announced Paul Ryan as his running mate, with the new official Twitter account for the campaign, @PaulRyanVP, getting over 50,000 followers in the first day. The account now has almost 80,000.

The buzz translated in to real world effects too, with the thousands of conservatives using their wallets to show their pleasure with Romney's choice of Ryan. The campaign raised over $1.2 million in the first few hours after the announcement, and $3.5 million in the first 24 hours, as reported by campaign spokeswoman Andrea Saul:

Breitbart TV interview with Sean Bielat [VIDEO]

Massachusetts Congressional candidate Sean Bielat spoke at the RedState Gathering last Friday, and Breitbart TV's Larry O'Connor had a great interview with him after the speech. Watch it here:

Sean Bielat on "He Said, She Said" on CDNews Radio

Sean Bielat was a guest on the "He Said, She Said" Blog Talk Radio program last night with Demetrius Minor and Stacy Washington. It was a fun show, covering everything from the latest updates from the campaign trail to Sean's upcoming appearance at the RedState Gathering this week.

If you missed the show, you can listen here:

RedState is coming to the Sunshine State!

The annual RedState Gathering is coming to the Sunshine State next month, and you won't want to miss it.

Check out www.RedStateGathering.com for all the details, including information on registration (Note: TODAY is the last day for the early-bird price!) and discounted hotel reservations.

Sean Bielat on the Gillespie Show [AUDIO]

Sean Bielat, candidate for Massachusetts' Fourth Congressional District, was on the Gillespie Show with Josh Gillespie (@JoshGillespie on Twitter) on FTR Radio last night.

If you missed the show, you can listen here:

Josh Gillespie | Interview with Sean Bielat

Turning Massachusetts Red

As you know, I am in Massachusetts right now, helping Sean Bielat's Congressional race. I miss my family and friends in the Sunshine State, but this has been an incredible experience so far. One of the more interesting aspects for me has been observing the activities of the Massachusetts Republicans, and some very promising developments in conservative grassroots activism around the southeastern part of the state.

Catching up with Karen Harrington at Right Online [VIDEO]

Karen Harrington, candidate for Florida's 23rd Congressional district, is attending the Right Online conference, and I caught up with her this morning for coffee.

We had a great discussion about the lessons she's learned from her 2010 campaign against Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and what kind of reception she is getting with Democrat and independent voters in her South Florida district.

Grassroots vs. Michael Moore

I've seen a lot of different types of campaign fundraising strategies, but I have to say I'm really enjoying what the Sean Bielat campaign posted today: "Match Michael Moore." (Disclaimer: I work for the campaign...but you probably already knew that.)

Moore (along with a number of other liberal Hollywood elites) donated $2,500 to Joe Kennedy III. Team Bielat is asking grassroots supporters to match that by midnight tomorrow, and we're chatting about it on Twitter under the hashtag #MatchMichaelMoore.

There's a first time for everything...

 

Last week, I led a conference call with MA-4 candidate Sean Bielat (disclosure: I work for the campaign) and several bloggers and local press. Peter Ingemi (@datechguyblog) noted a comment I made and wrote a blog post about it:

Morning Coffee Reading for April 23, 2012

Here's your morning coffee reading for today:

• Love this write-up about BlogConCLT from the Republican Security Committee, which called Sean Bielat a "conservative dynamo" and "the most popular candidate at BlogCon." 

• • Hard-hitting column from Michelle Malkin: No More "Mr. Obama is a Nice Guy."

• Wow: Utah Senator Orrin Hatch was unable to fend off a primary challenge from Dan Liljenquist, despite spending a bazillion dollars. (OK, $5.7 million. But still, that's a heckuva lot of money for an incumbent to be forced to spend.) John Fund at the National Review thinks Hatch is vulnerable, and FreedomWorks for America is happy. Really happy.

Joe Kennedy III: Out. Of. Touch.

Ever since he entered the race for Massachusetts' Fourth Congressional District, Joseph Kennedy III has been facing criticism for avoiding discussing any substantive issues. Even left-leaning blogs have pointed out that his website lacked an issues page.

Well, Kennedy finally stepped up this week and gave the voters some idea about where he stands on the issues: