Toomey campaign welcomes Sestak, says both Dems are liberals anyway

Republican Pat Toomey’s Senate campaign welcomed Congressman Joe Sestak (D-7) to the Senate race Tuesday with a not-so-nice compliment and an attack on his Democratic opponent Arlen Specter.

“We welcome Joe Sestak to the race,” the campaign said in a statement. “Pennsylvania Democrats will make an important choice between Joe Sestak, a consistent liberal who really believes in his values, and Arlen Specter, a career political opportunist who believes in nothing but his own reelection.…

August 4, 2009 at 10:23 am | Comments (0)

More proof that primary is moving Specter left

The In-Specter has pTrue, having a reliably Democratic vote in Specter pays short-term political dividends. Yet what these results also indicate is how quickly Specter can change with the political winds. Specter may be running to the left to trounce Sestak, but once he’s secured the nomination, there’s no guarantees he won’t run back to the center again. In fact, with a href="http://www.pa2010.com/2009/07/breaking-news-in-dramatic-change-new-poll-shows-specter-and-toomey-in-dead-heat/" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.pa2010.com']);return TrackClick("http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pa2010.com%2F2009%2F07%2Fbreaking-news-in-dramatic-change-new-poll-shows-specter-and-toomey-in-dead-heat%2F','Pat+Toomey+gaining+ground')">Pat Toomey gaining ground in the polls against him, its almost a foregone conclusion. Specter looks like a mainline liberal for the moment, but for this ever-changing Senator, that image provides little comfort in the long run

July 28, 2009 at 10:23 am | Comments (1)

Too early, too late, too in-between…

Well things have certainly changed, in Pennsylvania and elsewhere, in the last couple of months. Suddenly Pat Toomey pContrary to most Republicans, I don’t think the problem is that Obama and Co.…

July 24, 2009 at 9:35 am | Comments (5)

In Sestak’s rough poll numbers, a big opportunity for growth

The pBut as he wraps up his three-week, statewide publicity tour, he can take solace in one very important number: A full 69 percent of voters surveyed haven’t heard enough about him to form an opinion./p
pWith the Democratic primary still nine months away and voters’ perceptions of the economy far from crystallized, his lack of name recognition could, paradoxically, prove his greatest asset moving forward. Whereas Sestak has loads of time and money to shape how voters view him, Specter has much less wiggle room. In the same poll, only 9 percent of voters hadn’t heard enough about the longtime incumbent to form an opinion./p
pBut it won’t be easy—or cheap. The poll was conducted July 14-19, well into a href="http://www.pa2010.com/2009/07/the-press-room-sestaks-media-strategy-goes-local/" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.pa2010.com']);return TrackClick("http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pa2010.com%2F2009%2F07%2Fthe-press-room-sestaks-media-strategy-goes-local%2F','Sestak%22s+media+blitz')" target="_blank">Sestak’s media blitz, signaling that he still has a long way to go toward getting his name on the general public’s radar. He has $4.2 million in campaign cash on hand, according to

July 22, 2009 at 9:08 am | Comments (8)

Toomey would beat Sestak, poll says

If Congressman Joe Sestak (D-7) managed to unseat Senator Arlen Specter and faced Republican Pat Toomey in a general election today, he would lose narrowly to Toomey, according to a new poll.

The Quinnipiac survey, which found

July 22, 2009 at 8:51 am | Comments (6)

In dramatic change, new poll shows Specter and Toomey in dead heat (Updated)

Senator Arlen Specter’s wide lead over Republican Pat Toomey has evaporated, in the clearest sign yet that his party switch three months ago has damaged his credibility with voters, according to a new poll.

A Quinnipiac survey released this morning found Specter leading Toomey by a statistically insignificant one point in a general election matchup, 45 percent to 44 percent. More troubling for Specter, a near-majority of voters say he doesn’t deserve reelection, according to…

July 22, 2009 at 7:04 am | Comments (8)

Jane Orie worried that a Senate run would have hurt sister’s judicial bid

The word on the street is that Jane Orie’s short-lived exploration about a 2010 U.S. Senate bid was indeed shut down quick due to concern about potential damage her sister’s judicial race.

In other words: If

July 18, 2009 at 1:37 pm | Comments (0)

Does Toomey have a shot in Pa?

No way—at least according to Republican Senator Orrin Hatch.

Back at the end of April, pWould the the NRSC back Toomey? “I don’t think so,” Hatch said. He advised the party to look for “someone who can win there.”/p
pFast forward to Tuesday when the NSRC a href="http://www.pa2010.com/2009/07/nrsc-endorses-toomey/" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.pa2010.com']);return TrackClick("http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pa2010.com%2F2009%2F07%2Fnrsc-endorses-toomey%2F','officially+endorsed')"officially endorsed/a Toomey’s run for office. The man Senator Hatch told the world less than two months ago had no chance of winning an election in Pennsylvania has now gotten the blessing of the organization Hatch helps lead—one whose role is to elect Republicans to the Senate nationwide./p
pLet’s face it: Pat Toomey is not the NRSC’s favorite choice to run in this seat. Tom Ridge and Jane Orie were courted by party heavyweights to jump into the primary, yet both declined. Pennsylvania Republicans were not eager to take on Specter in a general election, and saw a run in 2010 as an exercise in futility. That left the GOP with only one good option—lining up behind the most serious contender in the race. As May turned into June, Republicans began nervously eying the electoral calendar. The GOP primary will be on May 18, 2010. With less than a year to go, and no other serious Pennsylvania Republicans looking to run for the Senate seat, the Republicans were forced to endorse./p
pToomey, for his part, has begun going through the motions of a href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0609/24350_Page2.html" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.politico.com']);return TrackClick("http%3A%2F%2Fwww.politico.com%2Fnews%2Fstories%2F0609%2F24350_Page2.html','reaching+out+to+the+center%2C')">reaching out to the center, a smart move for a conservative running in a state where registered Democrats currently outnumber Republicans by 1.2 million voters. The GOP is hoping that a

July 17, 2009 at 10:54 am | Comments (3)

NRSC endorses Toomey

The National Republican Senatorial Committee endorsed former Lehigh Valley Congressman Pat Toomey on Tuesday, effectively ending the search for an alternative GOP candidate at the national level.

“Congressman Pat Toomey’s life experience and public service make him uniquely qualified to serve Pennsylvanians in the U.S. Senate,” NRSC head John Cornyn said in a statement. “Through hard work and self-reliance, Pat Toomey has successfully represented a Democrat-leaning district and accomplished much in his private sector endeavors.…

July 14, 2009 at 4:42 pm | Comments (2)

Santorum denies rumors of involvement in Senate recruiting

Rumors have been swirling this week that former Senator Rick Santorum was the key player in bringing

July 14, 2009 at 12:42 pm | Comments (2)