Sestak, Specter Clash Over Pay for Staffers

Pennsylvania Congressman Joe Sestak isn’t disputing the fact many of his staffers are paid salaries at or below the minimum wage, but he says Senator Arlen Specter’s campaign is only pointing that out because they’re worried about the incumbent Democrat’s approval ratings.
A day after Specter’s campaign put out a press release charging Sestak with paying several staffers salaries that equate to a bit more than eight dollars an hour, the suburban Philadelphia Congressman fired back.
He doesn’t dispute his campaign payroll, but said his staffers are making a “personal sacrifice” to change Washington.
Sestak says Specter is going negative because of bad poll numbers.

"I don’t think it’s a coincidence at all that Arlen Specter’s negative personal attacks came immediately after another poll that shows after 30 years, only 25 percent of Pennsylvanians think the Senator, Senator Specter, deserves reelection. And I think they’re panicking."

The recent Franklin and Marshall College poll gave Specter a 33-16 percent lead over Sestak, with 44 percent of respondents undecided.
Specter’s campaign manager, Chris Nicholas, calls the salaries “pathetically low,” and inconsistent with Democratic principles.
According to information provided by Nicholas, the lowest-paid Specter campaign staffer makes 23-hundred dollars a month.