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LEFTOVERS: Plouffe boosts Specter, late-game endorsements for Onorato and Wagner

Almost out of nowhere in the last 24 hours, a strong “Obama-has-given-up-on-Specter” meme took hold in the press. It’s the natural media overreaction to the premature counting out of Joe Sestak months ago. Yes, Arlen Specter very well could lose on Tuesday, and anyone who supports him is mentally “preparing” for that, the same way you prepare for any possibility. But everyone should calm down. Virtually nothing changed in the complexion of this race between Sunday and Monday. It was too close to call at the end of last week, it will be too close to call when we wake up on primary day.

Underscoring that, David Plouffe, the campaign manager who brought Barack Obama to the White House, wrote to the president’s famed e-mail list Monday to offer some last-minute words for Specter. “President Obama is committed to seeing Senator Specter re-elected,” Plouffe wrote in the e-mail, sent through Organizing for America, Obama’s campaign arm of the Democratic National Committee. “Whenever he has needed a crucial vote for a top priority, Arlen Specter has been there for our President and this movement. He stood with President Obama on the Recovery Act, which has played a crucial role in getting the economy back on track and Americans back to work. He was the deciding vote in passing the historic health reform law that reduces costs, increases coverage, and ends insurance company abuses. And he’ll be there for the fights ahead — as long as he wins tomorrow.

“Re-electing Arlen is going to take the same effort we all have put in so many times before—spreading the word to friends and neighbors, knocking on doors, and making phone calls,” Plouffe added.

Meanwhile, it’s never too late for endorsements in the four-way Democratic primary for governor. Front-runner Dan Onorato got one late Sunday from state Senator Vincent Hughes (D-Philadelphia), who said Onorato “has the best policies to take Pennsylvania into the future. … Utilizing Dan’s experience, we will be best positioned by interconnecting the strategy of combining an unwavering commitment to education, with a proven record on community based economic development.”

And Jack Wagner rolled out some late-game endorsements of his own Monday, announcing support from state Representatives Florindo Fabrizio and Patrick Harkins of Erie County; Kyle Foust, Chairman and Fiore Leone of the Erie County Council; and national party committeeman Ian Murray.

Well political junkies, it sure has been a crazy primary season. Keep your browsers on pa2010.com Tuesday night, because we’ve got 16 reporters deployed throughout the state, and we’ll be bringing you the most timely and comprehensive coverage of the results you’ll find anywhere in the Keystone State.

And don’t forget to vote!

May 17, 2010 at 5:47 pm

--Dan Hirschhorn

Tags: Arlen Specter, Barack Obama, Dan Onorato, Jack Wagner

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