Jerry Della Femina, From Those Wonderful Folks Who Gave You Pearl Harbor: Front-Line Dispatches from the Advertising War (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1970), chap. 13.
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I had a special project to do a campaign for a Philadelphia politician named Arlen Spector [sic]. “When do I get to see Arlen Spector?” I asked. “You don’t.” Spector was a district attorney in Philadelphia, running for mayor. He wanted New York advertising but he had placed through a Philadelphia agency. I complained about not being able to see Arlen Spector. “Are you crazy?” his people said. “Nobody gets to meet Arlen Spector. We can’t even see him.” “All right,” I said, “what’s Arlen Spector for?” “Arlen Spector is for getting elected.” “All right,” I said, “what’s Arlen Spector against?” “Arlen Spector is against losing.” I did the campaign, but Arlen Spector lost.

— Jerry Della Femina on Arlen Specter

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "I had a special project to do a campaign for a Philadelphia politician named Arlen Spector [sic]. “When do I get to see Arlen Spector?” I asked. “You don’t.” Spector was a district attorney in Philadelphia, running for mayor. He wanted New York advertising but he had placed through a Philadelphia agency. I complained about not being able to see Arlen Spector. “Are you crazy?” his people said. “Nobody gets to meet Arlen Spector. We can’t even see him.” “All right,” I said, “what’s Arlen Spector for?” “Arlen Spector is for getting elected.” “All right,” I said, “what’s Arlen Spector against?” “Arlen Spector is against losing.” I did the campaign, but Arlen Spector lost." in the context of "Jerry Della Femina, From Those Wonderful Folks Who Gave You Pearl Harbor: Front-Line Dispatches from the Advertising War (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1970), chap. 13." to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Arlen Specter" (About Arlen Specter) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app

About Jerry Della Femina

Jerry Della Femina (born 1936 in Brooklyn) is an American advertising executive and restaurateur.