Day 8
10:18 AM ET.

This first entry today won’t be long because we’re finishing up some work here in Cheshire, CT and then driving back to New Haven for some interviews.

Later this afternoon we’re driving due north to Rhode Island, home of one of the most closely watched Senate races in America between embattled Republican Lincoln Chaffee and Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse.

We had a great night sleep, some tasty (healthy) food and we’re all feeling good.

Tonight, more writing and producing!

Keep an eye out for our next episode with Joe Sestak (PA-07) and Lois Murphy (PA-06) - the episode should be up within the hour.

-Peter

Day 3
10:30 AM ET.

As promised, some notes and thoughts on Joe Sestak, the Democratic candidate opposing Curt Weldon in Pennsylvania’s 7th District. It’s an interesting district, made up of Delaware, Montgomery, and Chester counties and while the greater Philadelphia area has been trending blue for a while, Joe pointed out in his speech that there is only 22% Democratic voter registration. All three of us grew up no more than 15 minutes from the district. We talked to him on Tuesday night and should have the interview up at some point this weekend.

Joe, as he told the questioners to call him, entered the room around 9:30 pm or so after a long day of campaigning, looking tired but relaxed in blue shirtsleeves. He’d done his first event after declaring to run with the Swarthmore Dems so he was amazed at how far they’d come. The polls have been tightening and Joe raised more money than Weldon in the last quarter. He gave us his basic stump speech, though he may have made it a bit more wonky for the college crowd.

The beginning basically told his story: three plus decades of miliary service in the Navy, fighting in Afghanistan, and the sense of honor and community he gained from his service. He told the story of his daughter’s sickness and how it inspired him to run when he saw another sick little boy “on the other side of the curtain” in the hospital, surrounded by social workers discussing whether or not he could stay at the hospital due to his lack of health insurance. Admiral Sestak was lucky enough to have wonderful healthcare for his daughter through his taxpayer funded health insurance. “I owe this country…I owe the people,” he said.

My favorite quote? “All the military officers are Democrats, they just don’t know it yet.”

And he told us of his sense of an American spirt and determination that is in real danger due to the disaster of the Iraq war. He called for our troops to be out within a year.

Though he’d been up since sunrise greeting commuters at the train station, he then took questions from the audience where he talked about Darfur, Medicare Part D and the “donut hole,” the deficit, and even his support for the International Criminal Court.

Joe Sestak is gonna make a great Congressman. Help him out.

-Josh

Day 1
10:48 PM ET.

We’re on our way home after a long but rewarding speech, Q&A, and interview with Joe Sestak sponsored by the Swarthmore College Democrats and their tasty pizza. I’ll write more on what Joe actually said tomorrow, but suffice to say, he’s a very impressive candidate. Thoughtful and well-spoken with a strong grasp of the issues, the Admiral should make for a very good Congressman.

We shot some video tonight too. I don’t know how much I can say about it now, but you should expect to see some video of us online soon thanks to a partnership with PoliticsTV. It’s pretty exciting. Photos too which will be up on flickr soon.

Oh, and I am loving this wireless broadband card. Streaming music and blogging from the highway is pretty neat.

Night y’all.

-Josh

Day 1
8:00 PM ET.

We’re officially inside the DoubleSpeak minivan, driving on 95N past Citizens Bank Park, home of the Philadelphia Phillies headed to Swarthmore College to interview Joe Sestak. He’s running in the PA 7th against Curt Weldon and he’s got a great resume. Admiral in the Navy, multiple deployments overseas, etc. You’ll hear more about him on the show that will go up in the next day or two.

We’ll be sending out an official announcement in the next couple hours, but we are on the road. I’m so excited that this adventure is finally underway. PA interviews are going well. We are booked solid until the minute we leave the state and we’re looking forward to bringing our audience some really interesting interviews and great pics, video, etc.

We’re still working on finishing the website, it will be out in the next 24 hours or so and we’ll be putting out a national press release about the trip as well.

We’d love to hear from you. Contact us through our website or drop us a line over email. If you have suggestions about people to talk to, issues to cover or best highways to drive, we’d love to hear your thoughts.

Matthew is a bad driver. This could possibly be the last post I ever do.

Okay, that’s it for now. Make sure you check out Joe Sestak’s website and look forward to our interview. More later.

-Peter