The Fix on Sestak’s chances

Political reporter extraordinaire Chris Clizza at The Fix has a great take on why it’s too early to count out Joe Sestak in the Senate race.

His points about it being the traditional strategy of consulting firm The Campaign Group to pick a late TV-air date are particularly cogent.

full story

April 13, 2010 at 6:55 pm | Comments (2)

Specter airing TV ads Wednesday (Updated)

After signaling that he’d wait for his opponent to run TV ads first, Senator Arlen Specter has decided to hit the airwaves.

Specter’s campaign will have at least one ad on both broadcast and cable television by Wednesday morning, two people familiar with the ad buy told pa2010.com. One source said the campaign would begin airing Wednesday morning, but another said the airtime could start as early as Tuesday evening. The ad buy, according to…

April 13, 2010 at 6:00 pm | Comments (29)

Rasmussen: Sestak closing the gap against Specter

Congressman Joe Sestak is rapidly gaining on Senator Arlen Specter, according to a poll released Tuesday.

pAt first glance, the survey appears to be something of a statistical outlier. Every recent survey has shown a much wider gap. a href="http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/elections2/election_2010/election_2010_senate_elections/pennsylvania/2010_senate_election/pennsylvania_senate_democratic_primary_specter_48_sestak_37" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.rasmussenreports.com']);return TrackClick("http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rasmussenreports.com%2Fpublic_content%2Fpolitics%2Felections2%2Felection_2010%2Felection_2010_senate_elections%2Fpennsylvania%2F2010_senate_election%2Fpennsylvania_senate_democratic_primary_specter_48_sestak_37','A+Rasmussen+poll+with+a+similar+sample+just+one+month+ago+found+Sestak+down+11+points')" target="_blank"A Rasmussen poll with a similar sample just one month ago found Sestak down 11 points/a, and little has transpired since then that would account for such a change. Neither candidate had aired TV ads when the poll was conducted. However, the telephone survey was taken on Monday, just as a href="http://www.pa2010.com/2010/04/santorum-comment-ignites-a-clash-in-senate-race/" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.pa2010.com']);return TrackClick("http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pa2010.com%2F2010%2F04%2Fsantorum-comment-ignites-a-clash-in-senate-race%2F','former+Senator+Rick+Santorum%22s+accusation+that+he+endorsed+Specter+in+2004+because+Specter+promised+to+back+Bush+administration+judicial+nominees')" target="_blank">former Senator Rick Santorum’s accusation that he endorsed Specter in 2004 because Specter promised to back Bush administration judicial nominees was at its peak in the news cycle. It’s likely that had an effect, though it remains to be seen if any impact from the story will hold (Sestak has denied Santorum’s charge).

Sixty-five percent of likely primary voters…

April 13, 2010 at 5:39 pm | Comments (25)

Sestak knocks Vodvarka off the ballot (Updated)

An long-shot Senate hopeful who had said he was funding his campaign with nothing more than his social security checks won’t get to compete in the May primary.

Commonwealth Court Judge Mary Hannah Leavitt on Tuesday ruled in favor of a ballot challenge brought against the candidate, Joe Vodvarka. The challenge was filed by Congressman Joe Sestak (D-7), who stood to lose if any votes against incumbent Senator Arlen Specter went to another candidate. In…

April 13, 2010 at 4:29 pm | Comments (34)

The more things change, the more they stay the same

Pat Toomey must be feeling pretty happy. Polls show him pHowever, beyond the spectacle of the race—the accusations and drama surrounding Rick Santorum’s a href="http://www.pa2010.com/2010/04/santorum-comment-ignites-a-clash-in-senate-race/" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.pa2010.com']);return TrackClick("http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pa2010.com%2F2010%2F04%2Fsantorum-comment-ignites-a-clash-in-senate-race%2F','endorsement-for-vote+scandal')" target="_blank"endorsement-for-vote scandal/a being just one example—things seem surprisingly static. The numbers haven’t changed much, the lines of attack and argument are consistent, and everything seems to point to a predictable primary next month. This is all good news for Toomey. Every time Specter is in the news lately, unless it’s for another predictable endorsement by a Democratic institution, it’s some foible by the aging senator, like Specter calling College Democrats “a href="http://www.pa2010.com/2010/04/woops-the-party-switch-slips-specters-mind/" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.pa2010.com']);return TrackClick("http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pa2010.com%2F2010%2F04%2Fwoops-the-party-switch-slips-specters-mind%2F','College+Republicans')" target="_blank">College Republicans.”

As for

April 12, 2010 at 2:01 pm | Comments (6)

Toomey leads Dems in another poll

Republican Senate candidate Pat Toomey continues to enjoy advantages over both Democrats vying for the chance to face him in November, according to a new poll.

The Muhlenberg College survey released Monday found Toomey topping Senator Arlen Specter by seven points, 47 percent to 40 percent. Toomey leads Congressman Joe Sestak (D-7) by 11 points, 33 percent to 22 percent. But 45 percent of voters say they’d back someone else or are undecided in that…

April 12, 2010 at 11:56 am | Comments (8)

Sestak’s not buying Specter’s denial

PHILADELPHIA—Senator Arlen Specter has denied that he promised unconditional support for George W. Bush’s Supreme Court nominees in exchange for political backing from Rick Santorum in 2004—but Specter’s primary opponent Joe Sestak isn’t buying it.

Sestak

April 12, 2010 at 7:27 am | Comments (21)

Toomey and Sestak agree on one thing: They don’t like Arlen Specter

PHILADELPHIA—If two debates between Democrat Joe Sestak and Republican Pat Toomey have made one thing clear, it’s that the two Senate hopefuls disagree on virtually every major public policy issue under the sun—but that they both share a political disdain for incumbent Arlen Specter.

Sestak and Toomey laid out starkly contrasting platforms Sunday night, taking heated questions from a sometimes-raucous crowd at La Salle University here, with supporters for both candidates clashing in the occasional…

April 12, 2010 at 1:09 am | Comments (10)

Santorum comment ignites a clash in Senate race

Former Senator Rick Santorum has been putting out feelers for a possible presidential run, but it was something he said about ex-colleague Arlen Specter that made a splash over the weekend.

Appearing at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference in New Orleans, Santorum offered up a mea culpa for endorsing Specter in his tough 2004 race—and said he did so because Specter promised to back whoever President George W. Bush nominated to the Supreme Court.

“The…

April 11, 2010 at 2:44 pm | Comments (18)

Tea Party group endorses Vodvarka in Dem Senate race

A Philadelphia Tea Party group has found a Democrat it likes: Senate super-underdog Joe Vodvarka.

The Independence Hall Tea Party PAC has endorsed Vodvarka in his primary race against Senator Arlen Specter and Congressman Joe Sestak, The Post-Gazette

April 8, 2010 at 1:35 pm | Comments (17)