The Other McCain

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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.

Category: Election, Massachusetts, Senate

Comments

11 Responses to “Who Is Hari Sevugan and Why Is He Trying to Bring Palin to Massachusetts?”

  1. MrMaryk
    January 12th, 2010 @ 8:44 pm

    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.

    When talking about Brown being “sexy”, don’t forget Cosmo.

  2. MrMaryk
    January 12th, 2010 @ 3:44 pm

    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.

    When talking about Brown being “sexy”, don’t forget Cosmo.

  3. Mike
    January 12th, 2010 @ 9:06 pm

    The question is, are there two Sarah Palins?
    The real one, and the one political operatives (Schmidt, any Democrat) see.
    http://fishersvillemike.blogspot.com/2010/01/two-sarah-palins.html

  4. Mike
    January 12th, 2010 @ 4:06 pm

    The question is, are there two Sarah Palins?
    The real one, and the one political operatives (Schmidt, any Democrat) see.
    http://fishersvillemike.blogspot.com/2010/01/two-sarah-palins.html

  5. Miss Sharon
    January 12th, 2010 @ 10:17 pm

    Where is Sarah Palin? Why she is on Fox News tonight with Boar O’Reilly! I think she is more helpful sitting this one out. However, when Brown said(days ago-source I cannot recall) he did not know much about her that was truly stretching credulity!

  6. Miss Sharon
    January 12th, 2010 @ 5:17 pm

    Where is Sarah Palin? Why she is on Fox News tonight with Boar O’Reilly! I think she is more helpful sitting this one out. However, when Brown said(days ago-source I cannot recall) he did not know much about her that was truly stretching credulity!

  7. Joe
    January 13th, 2010 @ 2:44 am

    I’ll tell you what, bring Harry Reid to Massachusetts.

  8. Joe
    January 12th, 2010 @ 9:44 pm

    I’ll tell you what, bring Harry Reid to Massachusetts.

  9. More Evidence That Scott Brown’s Surge Has Democrats Spooked : The Other McCain
    January 12th, 2010 @ 10:13 pm

    […] at SEIU are reportedly planning a $685,000 ad buy attacking Brown.This comes on the heels of the DNC sending its press secretary Hari Sevugan to spin for Coakley and Brown’s $1.3 million money bomb.Democrats have just sent a letter to […]

  10. Is Martha Coakley Even Sleazier Than Tila Tequila? : The Other McCain
    January 13th, 2010 @ 8:18 am

    […] Rove That’s from a Democratic National Committee press release. Having failed with their Palin Derangement Syndrome gambit, now the Democrats are playing the Karl Rove card. Desperate much?Speaking of desperation, […]

  11. uberVU - social comments
    January 19th, 2010 @ 12:14 am

    Social comments and analytics for this post…

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