Specter on a Democratic endorsing spree

Senator Arlen Specter appears to be tripping over himself to endorse any Democrat on a ballot in next week’s election.

In an e-mail to supporters Tuesday, Specter voiced his support for the party’s slate of judicial candidates, starting with Supreme Court candidate Jack Panella and going down the ballot to Superior and Commonwealth Court candidates.

“A fair and impartial judiciary is essential to the success of our Commonwealth,” Specter wrote.

Those endorsements came on the…

October 27, 2009 at 4:14 pm | Comments (5)

Specter, the Phils, cheesesteaks and cheesecakes

Senator Arlen Specter is taking part in that old tradition of the political sports bet.

Specter, along with Senator Bob Casey, have made a friendly wager on the coming World Series matchup of the Phillies vs. the Yankees. If the Yanks win, Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York get some delicious Philly cheesesteaks.

If the Phils win, Specter and Casey get to enjoy Junior’s famous cheesecakes.

“It’s great to see the Bronx…

October 26, 2009 at 2:49 pm | Comments (7)

THE PRESS ROOM: Kortz wants more coverage

An occasional series of articles exploring how political campaigns are playing out in the media—in print, on the air, online and behind the scenes.

State Representative Bill Kortz (D-Allegheny) has long been getting the short end of the media stick during his super-underdog race for Senate. In a Democratic primary dominated by Senator Arlen Specter and Congressman Joe Sestak (D-7), Kortz has more often than not been an afterthought—in the minds of his opponents, political…

October 26, 2009 at 12:21 pm | Comments (6)

Biden: ‘We need Arlen’

Vice President Joe Biden continued to stump for Senator Arlen Specter Monday night, crediting with helping to avert a second Great Depression and imploring Pennsylvania voters to send the Republican-turned-Democrat back to Washington for another term.

“The fact of the matter is we would not be about to even begin the kind of recovery that we are about [to begin], that we want, were it not for the fact that Arlen Specter put his career…

October 20, 2009 at 9:30 am | Comments (8)

Lamont says Sestak’s Democratic principles come ‘from the heart’

A former U.S. Senate candidate who challenged his party’s incumbent in Connecticut endorsed Democrat Joe Sestak’s candidacy on Monday, saying that Sestak “knows where he stands politically.”

Ned Lamont, who beat Senator Joe Lieberman in the 2006 Democratic primary in Connecticut before losing when Lieberman ran as an independent in the general election, equated the pressure Sestak has felt from party leaders not to run against Arlen Specter with what he experienced in running against…

October 19, 2009 at 2:29 pm | Comments (7)

3 lessons learned and 3 questions raised in the 3rd quarter (Updated)

The numbers are in, digested and covered to death.

So with third quarter FEC reports squarely in the rear-view mirror, pa2010.com returns to the big picture. With that in mind, we offer up the most important lessons learned from the early fundraising hauls, along with the questions still to be answered.

LESSONS LEARNED:

1. Joe Sestak has work to do. The fact that the Democratic Senate hopeful Full Story

October 19, 2009 at 1:53 pm | Comments (14)

5 fun facts from the 3rd quarter

A few days after third quarter campaign finance reports were published, here’s a handful of interesting items that jumped out at us.

1. Why spend money when you’ve barely started running? Republican 7th District candidate Pat Meehan, only 16 days into his campaign when the third quarter closed Sept. 30, didn’t have to. The former U.S. Attorney spent a paltry $607, Full Story

October 19, 2009 at 11:00 am | Comments (1)

Specter calls GOP a ‘party of obstructionism’ (Video)

Senator Arlen Specter on Sunday lashed into his old party, calling the GOP a “party of obstruction” that was “not cooperating.”

Specter, a Republican for decades before switching parties earlier this year, voiced his criticism on Fox News Sunday.

“On the Republican side,” he said, “it’s no, no, no. A party of obstructionism. … You have responsible Republicans who had been in the Senate—like Howard Baker, Bob Dole or Bill Frist—who say Republicans ought to…

October 18, 2009 at 9:05 pm | Comments (12)

Luksik has raised almost $300K, spent most of it

In her underdog campaign to win the the Republican nomination for Senate, conservative activist Peg Luksik has brought in almost $300,000 during the cycle, sending most of it right back out the door, according to recent

October 18, 2009 at 12:41 am | Comments (0)

Specter camp seizes on opponents’ fundraising numbers

Senator Arlen Specter’s campaign on Thursday sought to portray the Senate contest as a money race heading strongly in its direction, saying that the “wind [is] out of the sails” for primary opponent Joe Sestak and that Republican Pat Toomey is on a “spending binge.”

The comments from campaign manager Christopher Nicholas were in response to Full Story

October 15, 2009 at 5:38 pm | Comments (18)