Pa. Club for Growth founder says Toomey shouldn’t run

The founder of the Pennsylvania Club for Growth is calling on Pat Toomey to step aside from the Republican Senate primary against Arlen Specter, saying that Toomey’s candidacy threatens to give the Senate seat to the Democrats.

The comments by the now-defunct group’s founder, William Parker, were made in a letter to Republicans, paid for, distributed and released this morning by Specter’s campaign. His stance echoes that of several Republicans, local and national, who have backed Specter out of concern that any other Republican would lose in next year’s general election. The Pennsylvania Club for Growth was not affiliated with the national Club for Growth, which Toomey led until recently resigning to run for Senate.

“Today I am urging Pat to withdraw from the 2010 Senate race because his candidacy threatens to hand over total control of the federal government to the Democrats,” Parker wrote. “I believe Senator Specter is the only person who can keep that Senate seat in the GOP column.”

April 21, 2009 at 10:20 am | Comments (0)

1Q fundraising roundup

The Congressional fundraising numbers are in, and in the Senate race, Senator Arlen Specter is the winner. He raised $1.3 million on his way to a total of $6.7 million in his campaign coffers. However, he is not the biggest surprise of the quarter.

Although Allyson Schwartz (D-13) pulled in a strong as usual fundraising haul ($379k), bringing her total to $2.1 million and Patrick Murphy (D-8) has a low total of $252,000 in the bank, neither of them are the big surprise of the quarter.

The surprise of the 2009 year so far is Rep. Joe Sestak (D-7). He hauled in around $550,000, bringing his total to more than $3, 3 million. This is shocking, considering he is a second-term member of Congress who has already equaled Pennsylvania’s version of Terry McAuliffe, Democrat Joe Torsella, for a potential run at Arlen Specter. The other good news for Sestak is that the recent rise in piracy has gained him a lot of media attention, being a former Vice Admiral in the Navy.

April 21, 2009 at 10:13 am | Comments (0)

Specter may back filibuster of Justice Dept. nominee

Senator Arlen Specter on Monday said that filibustering the Obama adminstration’s nominee for the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel is “under consideration,” CQ Politics reports.

Specter, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he hadn’t yet made a decision after meeting with the nominee, Dawn Johnsen.

April 20, 2009 at 8:25 pm | Comments (0)

Toomey on the economy

Pat Toomey has recently thrown announced he will run again against Arlen Specter for the Republican nomination for the Senate. What are his economic viewpoints?

According to this article in The Bulletin, Toomey is at least correct in blaming Alan Greenspan and the Fed for America’s loose monetary policy leading to the depression.

But he erroneously blames mark-to-market accounting as bad policy.

April 20, 2009 at 9:46 am | Comments (0)

The stakes in Specter vs. Toomey

Arlen Specter’s Senate race is significant, not only because it is for an important and powerful position in the United States Senate, but moreover because his race represents a fight over the heart of both the Republican party nationally as well as the shifting political dynamic that is profoundly changing the state of Pennsylvania and other blue-leaning swing states around the country.

April 20, 2009 at 9:42 am | Comments (0)

Report: GOP House members keeping distance from Specter

Although National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman John Conryn has endorsed Senator Arlen Specter in his tough primary battle against Pat Toomey, Congressional Republicans from the state are far more hesitant to been seen supporting Specter, Roll Call reports.

Their reticence make some sense. Specter has become a pariah among the Republican base that makes up a good deal of the remaining GOP-held Congressional districts in the state.

April 20, 2009 at 9:18 am | Comments (0)

Follow my Twitter feed… Arlen Specter does!

So pa2010.com had barely even gone online when I was surprised to get this message in my e-mail: “Sen. Arlen Specter (SenArlenSpecter) is now following your updates on Twitter.”

Now, I’m assuming that this is one of his people, and that the septuagenarian Senator isn’t hovering over a computer screen himself.

Nonetheless, not a bad endorsement. So if Arlen is doing it, you should too. You can sign up for my Twitter feed here, and follow every little development in Pennsylvania politics.

April 19, 2009 at 11:11 pm | Comments (0)

Political calibration at its finest

Welcome to The In-Specter, a free-flowing chronicle of political calibration and triangulation of the most exciting kind.

The Pennsylvania Senate Race in 2010 is one of the most intensely scrutinized in the country. Arlen Specter, the 79 year old incumbent, is one of the last of a dying breed of moderate Republicans who has managed to make enemies on both the right and the left as he attempts to represent a blue-leaning swing state and make another (final?) run for the Senate.

With 58 Democrats in the Senate (59 if and when Al Franken is seated), Specter is one of a handful of moderate Republicans that liberals hope they can count on to deliver filibuster-breaking votes on key legislative priorities for the new Obama administration. Having already broken ranks with the Republican Party over the stimulus package, Specter is in the unenviable position of having to fend off attacks from the right and the left.

Thus, Specter’s unique position makes his 2010 race one of the most intriguing in the country, and provides a good starting point from which to evaluate the politics of the entire Senate chamber as it grapples with President Obama’s expansive legislative agenda.

The goal of this blog is to provide insight and analysis of legislative and political developments in the Senate with Senator Specter’s race as the touchstone. I hope to provide information both about this specific race as well as its larger national context, and track how Specter navigates between the Scylla and Charybdis of a Republican party that would like to see him replaced with a fire-breathing conservative and a Democratic party who seeks to seat one of their own in a state that has gone blue in every Presidential election since 1988.

I invite you to become a part of this conversation and help us all better understand the dynamics of this intriguing political contest.

April 19, 2009 at 7:00 pm | Comments (0)

The Specter Myth

“He can win a General Election.”

“Independents and Democrats love him.”

“No other Republican can win the General Election.”

These are the common arguments advanced by Republican Party officials and political pundits alike when defending Arlen Specter just before his imminent primary rematch with former Congressman Pat Toomey.

With this battle royale about commence many pundits and GOP activists are concerned that if Arlen Specter were to lose in a primary, Republicans could lose the Senate seat. They cite electability as the main reason for not dumping Arlen in the primary in favor of a more principled candidate. However, what they don’t realize is that Arlen Specter’s general election numbers are at an all time low. In fact, he is 15 points lower than Rick Santorum was at this point leading up to his 2006 drubbing.

April 19, 2009 at 6:45 pm | Comments (0)

Schwartz, other House Dems eye Senate race warily

Only a few months ago, they were considered the most likely candidates to carry the Democratic banner and capture a second Senate seat in 2010. Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz (D-13), Congressman Patrick Murphy (D-8) and Congressman Joe Sestak (D-7) were all seen bringing different political strengths—and lots of money—to the table, perhaps capable of beating even the invincible Arlen Specter.

Today, the three are mentioned far less often. They have largely avoided talking about the race, while aides have quietly dropped hints that their bosses aren’t rushing to get in line for the nomination. Their reasons run the gamut. All three are occupied, to varying degrees, with President Obama’s ambitious agenda in Congress. Sestak’s office said in December that he wouldn’t run, even though he’s flush in campaign cash and his recent fundraising numbers have only fueled speculation. Murphy spent much of his large war chest in the final weeks of his reelection bid last year, leaving him with less cash on hand than some had expected. And with politicians of every stripe still loathe to count out Specter, all three are sitting in relatively safe Congressional seats that might seem like too much to risk.

April 19, 2009 at 6:17 pm | Comments (0)