Torsella, a former president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, dropped out of the race in May, about two weeks after Specter announced he was leaving to the Republican party to become a Democrat.

“I decided to withdraw from the race following Senator Specter’s decision because, among other reasons, a primary challenge to Senator Specter as an incumbent Democrat would inevitably weaken our party’s chance in the general election in November 2010,” Torsella said in the statement. “The bottom line is that Arlen Specter is smart, independent and gets the job done. He is one of the great assets of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.”

Read the full statement below:

Joe Torsella Endorses Arlen Specter for Re-election

Below is a statement from former Democratic Senate candidate Joe Torsella.

“I am announcing today my support for and endorsement of Arlen Specter for re-election to the United States Senate.

“I have known and worked with Senator Specter for nearly two decades, first when I worked for Mayor Rendell and later at the Constitution Center.

“Senator Specter has been a hard working, effective and honest fighter for Pennsylvania in the United States Senate.

“I know we share many of the same values, and with his decision to become a Democrat, I believe and hope that the Democratic voters of Pennsylvania will renominate him for another term of service.

In my own case, I decided to withdraw from the race following Senator Specter’s decision because, among other reasons, a primary challenge to Senator Specter as an incumbent Democrat would inevitably weaken our party’s chance in the general election in November 2010. And with the pressing issues of health care reform, economic recovery, education, the environment, and our national security at stake, I decided that now isn’t the time for the politics of personal ambition, but for the principle of putting Pennsylvania’s and the nation’s interests first.

In my campaign I spoke often of the need for new ideas and a new approach in Washington. In the weeks since I ended my candidacy, I have spoken at great length with Senator Specter and watched his work in Washington to advance the President’s agenda for change. I have become convinced that years of service do not preclude the ability to promote change; in fact, under the right circumstances, they enhance it. My conversations have convinced me that Arlen Specter will work hard to do just that on the issues most important to me and families across Pennsylvania

I am also proud that my party practices an inclusive brand of politics. We agree on core values but we are tolerant, as we should be, of differences and respectful of independent thinkers. By welcoming Senator Specter, we show that strength.

The bottom line is that Arlen Specter is smart, independent and gets the job done. He is one of the great assets of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

I unreservedly endorse Arlen Specter. He deserves to keep his job and Pennsylvanians need to keep him working for all of us.

–Joe Torsella

This came into my inbox a couple days ago but I’m only just getting to it now. In an e-mail to supporters Monday, he touted his former campaign staffers and asked for help in finding them new work.“With our campaign now closed, one of my highest priorities is helping the terrific staff we assembled in such a short time land on their feet; the unexpected ending was in many ways harder on them than on me,” Torsella wrote. “It is bittersweet to say goodbye to people to whom I’ve become so close, but all of them will be going to great things, I know. And while some of you had the opportunity to meet them, many of you did not. So I’m writing to make some brief introductions—if you or someone in your organization is currently searching for talent, we have it in abundance. I would appreciate any assistance you can offer to these young talented individuals, and if you have any openings that would be appropriate please let me know.

He goes on to hype each individual staffer.

One person who might not need as much help? Rebecca McNichols, who was serving as his campaign coordinator and has been a political director for Senator Bob Casey. As one of the more well-known members of the high-powered team Torsella had built, if there’s anyone who can expect a soft landing, it’s her.

Without making a political statement, pa2010.com Central certainly wishes Torella’s former staffers the best in their job hunts. It’s rough out there.

Looks like they weren’t kidding.

News broke this morning of a new Chamber CEO, and it’s not Torsella. It’s state Senator Rob Wondering (R-Montgomery). People who know Torsella said he wasn’t interested in the job anyway, and certainly wouldn’t want it as political consolation.

But it does raise the question: What’s next for Joe Torsella?

Giving the money back should prove easier, if not as satisfying.

Now that he is not running for Senate, Torsella’s campaign faces one major logistical hurdle before disbanding completely: how to quickly and effectively return money to the hundreds of donors that had helped Torsella become a viable candidate by forking over their cash for his early fundraising blitz.

“If you were kind enough to contribute, we’re going to tally up the accounts and send your money back,” Torsella said in a video to supporters. “I know you wanted to send me to the Senate, not to send me a political blank check.”

Not every dollar will be returned, considering the campaign had already made some modest expenditures on staff and operational expenses. Those outlays will be deducted from the total raised, and every donor will receive their money back, minus the proportional amount of their money that was already spent.

Campaign spokesman Mark Nevins said he was unsure exactly how much money had been raised since the first quarter recently ended, but he expected the donations would be returned without much logistical pain—though Torsella himself might experience some finger-aches from signing all those checks.

“There may be some hand cramps, but it’s not too complicated,” Nevins said.

Joe Torsella’s campaign had everything planned to a tee. The Democratic Senate candidate would release a video Friday morning telling his supporters of his decision to exit the race, and reporters who had been hearing rumors would be simultaneously notified.

But then, as so often happens in politics, the news leaked.

Citing two “well-placed Democratic sources,” Politico broke the story a little after 5 p.m. on Thursday. By 5:30, campaign officials were receiving calls from reporters wondering what was up. Soon enough, the campaign was sending reporters transcript excerpts for the video it had hoped would speak for itself, and quotes that hadn’t yet seen the light of day were peppered throughout news reports.

“We had an organized, sensible way in which we wanted to make Joe’s announcement,” campaign spokesman Mark Nevins told pa2010.com over the weekend. “When it broke, the video wasn’t on the [campaign] Web site yet so we had to scramble.

“Joe felt like the right thing to do was call people who were involved or invested in this campaign and let them know he was getting out of the race,” Nevins added.

Though it remains unclear exactly where the leak came from, speculation inside the campaign saw it coming from Washington, not Pennsylvania.

“Unfortunately, there were some Democratic sources in Washington D.C. who chose to leak that info rather than let Joe get out of the race on his own timetable,” Nevins said, making no secret of the campaign’s frustration that its well-laid plans had been nixed. “When a guy is heading out the door, there’s no need to take a shot at him. It was gratuitous, a typical Washington D.C. move.”

Below are the video and transcript of his remarks, as provided by the Torsella campaign.

HI, I’M JOE TORSELLA.

EARLIER THIS YEAR, I DECIDED TO RUN FOR THE UNITED STATES SENATE FROM PENNSYLVANIA.

FOR TOO LONG, WASHINGTON HASN’T BEEN WORKING FOR THE REST OF US.  I THOUGHT WE NEEDED A DEMOCRATIC SENATOR WHO WOULD CHAMPION NEW IDEAS AND NEW SOLUTIONS TO OLD PROBLEMS.

THAT’S WHAT I’VE SPENT MY LIFETIME DOING.

I WANTED TO TALK ABOUT HOW WE’RE GOING TO PUT 500,000 PENNSYLVANIANS BACK TO WORK.

HOW TO FINALLY GET AFFORDABLE HEALTH COVERAGE FOR ALL AMERICANS.

AND HOW WE CAN KEEP OUR COUNTRY SAFE WITHOUT SELLING OUT WHAT THE FOUNDERS CALLED “THE BLESSINGS OF LIBERTY.”

BUT AS WE’VE ALL LEARNED, CAMPAIGNS CAN BE UNPREDICTABLE.

A FEW WEEKS AGO, SENATOR ARLEN SPECTER JOINED THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY, TRANSFORMING THIS ELECTION.

I WAS INITIALLY RELUCTANT TO QUIT SOMETHING THAT SO MANY PEOPLE HAD THROWN THEMSELVES INTO, HEART AND SOUL.

BUT NOW THAT THE DUST HAS SETTLED, IT’S CLEAR TO ME IS THAT THE KIND OF CAMPAIGN THIS WOULD BECOME IS NOT THE KIND OF CAMPAIGN I – OR YOU – SIGNED UP FOR.

IT WOULD PROBABLY BE NEGATIVE, PERSONAL, AND MORE ABOUT SENATOR SPECTER’S PAST THAN OUR COMMON FUTURE AND THAT WON’T DO PENNSYLVANIA ANY GOOD.

I AM INCREDIBLY PROUD OF WHAT WE DID TOGETHER IN A VERY SHORT TIME, AND GRATEFUL BEYOND WORDS TO ALL OF YOU WHO HELPED.  BUT I’M NOT GOING TO PUT YOU IN A DIFFICULT SPOT AND ASK YOU TO SUPPORT A CAMPAIGN THAT NIETHER YOU NOR I CAN HOLD OUR HEADS HIGH ABOUT.

SO I’VE DECIDED THAT I’M NOT GOING FORWARD WITH MY CAMPAIGN FOR THE SENATE UNDER THESE CIRCUMSTANCES.

IF YOU WERE KIND ENOUGH TO CONTRIBUTE, WE’RE GOING TO TALLY UP THE ACCOUNTS AND SEND YOUR MONEY BACK.  I KNOW YOU WANTED TO SEND ME TO THE SENATE, NOT TO SEND ME A POLITICAL BLANK CHECK.

I WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT NO ONE ASKED ME TO TAKE THIS STEP AND I HAVEN’T ASKED FOR ANYTHING OR BEEN OFFERED ANYTHING IN EXCHANGE.  AS WITH MY DECISION TO RUN IN THE FIRST PLACE, THIS SIMPLY FEELS TO ME AND MY FAMILY TO BE THE RIGHT THING TO DO.

AND I WANT YOU TO KNOW, I’M NOT GOING ANYWHERE.   I INTEND TO PLAY AN ACTIVE PART IN THE CONVERSATION ABOUT RENEWING AMERICA THAT HAS STARTED IN WASHINGTON, BUT IS FAR FROM FINISHED.  I’M GOING TO STAY INVOLVED IN DEMOCRATIC POLITICS.

I WILL CAREFULLY CONSIDER CAREFULLY WHATEVER OPPORTUNITIES COME UP.  AND IF WE’VE ALL LEARNED ANYTHING OVER THE LAST FEW WEEKS, IT’S THAT THINGS CHANGE AND THERE ARE LIMITLESS WAYS TO SERVE.

I HOPE YOU WON’T GO AWAY EITHER.   EVERY DAY OF THIS SHORT CAMPAIGN HAS BEEN A JOY AND A BLESSING, AND I WOULDN’T TRADE IT – OR THE FRIENDSHIPS WE’VE MADE – FOR THE WORLD.

WE DON’T NEED THE EXCUSE OF A SENATE CAMPAIGN TO CONTINUE OUR CONVERSATION ABOUT HOW ALL OF US, AS CITIZENS, CAN HELP CHANGE WASHINGTON AND RENEW AMERICA.    OUR WEBSITE IS JUST GETTING STARTED, BUT I HOPE YOU’LL SIGN UP AND STAY IN TOUCH.

THERE WILL BE OTHER OPPORTUNITIES TO SERVE THE COUNTRY AND STATE WE LOVE, TO DRAW AMERICA JUST A LITTLE CLOSER IN OUR GENERATION TO THE BRIGHT PROMISE OF OUR FOUNDING IDEALS.   AND I HOPE YOU AND I WILL BOTH BE PART OF THAT, TOGETHER.

THANK YOU.

In a video to be released to supporters soon, a transcript of which was provided by someone inside the campaign, Torsella said that he was “initially reluctant to quit something that so many people had thrown themselves into, heart and soul.

“But now that the dust has settled,” Torsella said, “it’s clear to me that the kind of campaign this would become is not the kind of campaign I—or you—signed up for. It would probably be negative, personal, and more about Senator Specter’s past than our common future and that won’t do Pennsylvania any good.”

Even as he insisted he would stay in the primary fight against newly-Democratic Senator Arlen Specter, party insiders had called his departure from the race inevitable. He was widely seen as running with the backing of Gov. Ed Rendell, who threw his weight behind Specter when the longtime Republican switched parties recently.

“I want you to know that no one asked me to take this step and I haven’t asked for anything or been offered anything in exchange,” Torsella said in the video, according to the transcript. “As with my decision to run in the first place, this simply feels to me and my family to be the right thing to do. And I want you to know, I’m not going anywhere. I intend to play an active part in the conversation about renewing America that has started in Washington, but is far from finished. I’m going to stay active in Democratic politics.”

People close to Torsella had acknowledged his disappointment that Specter’s switch had thrown a monkey-wrench into what looked to be a promising campaign. Torsella had
raised $600,000 in the first six weeks of his fundraising efforts, much of it from allies of Rendell and even from Rendell himself. He had built a high-profile political team, including a longtime media strategist close to the governor.

Torsella’s exit leaves Congressman Joe Sestak (D-7) as the most likely Democrat to buck party leaders and challenge Specter in next year’s primary.

His impending exit from the race was first reported by Politico.

But Torsella’s campaign says he’s only interested in running for U.S. Senate, and that no one has approached him about the job over the last week anyway.

“No one has had any conversations with Joe about the Chamber of Commerce, and Joe’s interest is in running for U.S. Senate … and showing the contrasts between himself and Arlen Specter,” Torsella campaign spokesman Mark Nevins said.

The rumors even made their way into The Inquirer. People familiar with Torsella and with the Chamber of Commerce widely agree it wouldn’t be as plum a job as his recent gig heading up the National Constitution Center. There is some speculation that David Cohen, the Comcast executive and political big-wig who chairs the Chamber’s board, wants to expand its political profile, and would want a trusted ally like Torsella.

But people who know Torsella quietly say that even if he wanted the job, he wouldn’t want it as a kind of political payoff.

“I don’t see it,” one person close to him said.

In an interview, Democrat Joe Torsella’s spokesman made the early outlines of such an argument clear.

“What does Arlen Specter have to offer?” he asked. “He’s got no seniority. He’s got a 75 percent voting record with George Bush and is a 45-year career politician. Where’s the appeal for Democratic primary voters?”

Specter’s campaign manager did not return messages seeking comment.

UPDATE 12:13 p.m.—Specter gets a subcommittee chairmanship

Now, grassroots demands for a competitive Senate primary are growing louder, and they threaten to embroil Gov. Ed Rendell and the leadership in an intra-party dispute that could test Democrats’ ability to control their own in what has quickly become the most closely-watched political contest in the country.

“I feel that Democrats should have a real Democrat representing them in the United States Senate, not somebody who supported most of the Bush agenda,” said John Morgan, a progressive activist who runs the Pennsylvania Progressive blog, wrote a passionate argument for a primary and has been working with other party activists to ensure that Specter faces a serious challenger next spring.

Attempts by party leadership to clear the primary field for Specter, Morgan predicted, will fail.

“I’ve been burning up my BlackBerry for a few days, and my understanding is that it’s completely falling apart,” he said. “There’s been a lot of blowback on it from elected officials, party leaders, and a lot of rank-and-file.”

When Specter announced his decision last week, reports quickly emerged that Rendell had promised to clear the way for Specter to get the nomination. While no formal endorsement has been made yet, the state party, under Rendell’s control, has been abundantly clear that Specter has its backing. Since then, labor leaders have questioned whether they can back Specter if he doesn’t shift on key positions, activists have encouraged primary challengers, Congressman Joe Sestak (D-7) has taken advantage of the growing outrage and Democrats Joe Torsella and Bill Kortz have said they’re staying in the race.

In an interview, state Democratic Party chairman T.J. Rooney said that dissension within party ranks should be “expected and respected.”

“People need to have their say, they need to express their concerns, and they need to be listened to,” Rooney said.

But he was confident the party will eventually embrace Specter.

“Just as those men and women want to express their thoughts,” Rooney said, “I think Senator Specter should also be given the opportunity to be heard.”

Whether the opposition to Specter translates into a truly competitive primary remains to be seen. In his first week as a Democrat, Specter has certainly given liberals across the party cause for alarm. He voted against President Obama’s budget and a Democratic measure to make mortgage restructuring easier. He said he would not change his position on the Employee Free Choice Act, or “card-check,” and said he opposed a public option for health care.

Meanwhile, a grassroots infrastructure to hold Specter accountable to Democratic values—and perhaps eventually challenge him—has formed quickly. The Accountability Now PAC has been calling for a primary and laying the groundwork for helping to fund a challenger. At least two Facebook groups have been formed—”I support a real progressive against Arlen Specter” and “Keep Specter Honest.” And a Democratic activist has started Specter Watch, a blog that is closely monitoring the Senator’s every move.

“We’re talking about a state that President Obama won by 11 points,” said Ben Turner, who runs the blog. “This is not a state where you have to be timid if you’re a Democrat now. We know what the Republican base used to get out of [Specter]. They would get a year-and-a-half of votes from him before the primary. What is the Democratic Party going to get out of him?”

Specter’s campaign manager did not return messages seeking comment.

If the calls for a primary are to avoid fizzling out, it will likely depend on how organized labor comes down on the issue. While the state’s AFL-CIO initially greeted Specter’s defection warmly, union leaders have since increased pressure on him to support card-check. Specter met privately with labor leaders yesterday, and their support for him remains unclear—a situation not without irony consider labor’s consistent support for Specter when he was a Republican.

Whether party insiders higher up the chain rebel against Specter as a standard-bearer will also be a significant factor. Most have bit their tongues and echoed Rendell’s support for Specter, even if they quietly say later that they don’t agree. Some have already cleared the field for Specter, but the dissatisfaction over how things were done has been palpable. Increasingly, insiders predict a competitive primary of some kind, even while top party officials say the field will soon clear of any serious challengers.

“There’s a lot of Democrats that are angry that he’ll be the Democratic nominee, especially since he admitted it was such a political calculation,” one Democratic staffer said recently.

Bill Green, a political analyst in Pittsburgh, said that with Rendell and Obama behind Specter, mounting a primary challenge would be a losing proposition.

“I don’t think it’s going to go anywhere,” he said. “Democrats have nominated liberals to run against Arlen Specter for 30 years, and they always lose. The vulnerability of Arlen Specter is on his right.”