Who Is Hari Sevugan and Why Is He Trying to Bring Palin to Massachusetts?
Posted on | January 12, 2010 | 11 Comments
Byron York of the Washington Examiner reports that Democratic campaign operative Hari Sevugan is trying to “Palinize” the special Senate election in Massachusetts, where polls show Republican Scott Brown gaining ground on Democrat Martha Coakley:
Sevugan directed journalists to his response to the “blatant dodge by the Scott Brown campaign on the issue of whether he is seeking and/or if he would accept an endorsement from Sarah Palin.”
Clifton at Another Black Conservative says, “The whole thing reeks of desperation,” and it certainly looks like Sevugan and the Democrats are trying to change the subject from Martha Coakley, her record and her stance on the issues.
So, who is Hari Sevugan? He’s the 35-year-old press secretary at the Democratic National Committee, which makes him the de facto deputy to the DNC’s communication director. In the 2008 presidential campaign, Sevugan worked for the Chris Dodd campaign and joined Team Obama after Dodd dropped out:
Initially, he received the “Hillary Clinton Account,” and was in charge of rapid response against the former first lady. After the primary, he took aim at GOP nominee and vice presidential candidate Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Alaska Gov.Sarah Palin (R).
That’s from a Washington Post profile of Sevugan, which was promoted by Greg Sargent when it was published in March 2008. York’s story indicates that Sevugan is having some success using TPM and TPM alumnus Sargent to push his “Where’s Sarah Palin?” message to national media covering the Massachusetts campaign.
If you’re guessing that Sevugan, Sargent and the TPM crew are beer-buddies, you’re not alone. But there’s no indication that that the Palin angle is being picked up by local media in Massachusetts, so the Sevugan/Sargent/TPM connection evidently isn’t having much effect.
Meanwhile, Hot Air’s Ed Morrissey sees more evidence that Democrats are pushing the panic button, dumping more than a half-million dollars into last-minute TV ads to support the sinking Coakley.
Fausta Wertz dubs Scott Brown “sexiest man of the year.” Hey, $1.3 million in one day — that’s sexy. More at Memeorandum and NTC News.

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