Toomey enters race against (Sen Arlen) Specter

[RamboLiberal]

Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

It's official: Former Lehigh County congressman Pat Toomey has entered the race to unseat Sen. Arlen Specter in next year's Republican primary.

Mr. Toomey has been an all-but-official candidate the past two months, hammering Mr. Specter's swing vote on President Barack Obama's stimulus package. It was no surprise that he made his announcement on tax day, when Republicans are holding anti-stimulus "tea parties" nationwide, including one today in Market Square. He resigned Monday from the presidency of Club For Growth, a free-market group based in Washington, D.C.

He ran against Mr. Specter in 2004 and lost the party's nod by only 2 percentage points. Anti-abortion activist Peg Luksik of Johnstown is also a candidate.

On the Democratic side, the only announced candidate is former Philadelphia Deputy Mayor Joe Torsella.



Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09105/962944-100.stm

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If Looney Toomey defeats Specter this will be great if we have a good Dem candidate. But a problem would be if Specter decided to run as an independent if defeated by Toomey and splits the moderate Dem and independent vote with the Dem candidate.

[tularetom]

1. Isn't it more likely he'd split the repub/conservative vote with Toomey?

[napi21]

2. What do you know about Torsells? I don'yt thik I ever heard of him.

My biggest problem with Spector is that he rarely sticks to his positions. Many times he sides with the opposition to the Pubs, but ends up changing his mind. Although I no longer live in Pa. I have a lot of friends & relatives still there. I'd love to contact all of them and ask them to support the Dem, but I have to tell them reasons why.

[sharp_stick]

3. This could bring out a few Dem Candidates

I for one will actively support Toomey as a candidate for the repuke nomination. I can see him winning the nutjob vote for the primary and then going on to quick defeat in the general against a well funded Democratic contender.

I don't think Specter would run as an independant but then again I thought that Joe Lieberman would have the honor to respect the vote of the Democrats in Connecticut and was proven the idiot. I won't make that bet again.

[RamboLiberal]

6. Specter hinted recently that he might go independent if he lost

the primary.

[wisteria]

4. IMO, Toomey will not win the primary and it would be wise to let this election play itself out.

Specter has a lot of support in a wide range of areas in PA. And, Republicans in PA aren't anywhere as Conservative as Toomey is. Toomey will never sell in Philadelphia or the suburbs and Harrisburg. He can only possibly achieve something in Western-get your guns- PA.

[RamboLiberal]

5. Republican Primary can be quite conservative in PA

Specter had probably the closest primary in ages against Toomey in 2004.

2004 U.S. Senate election — Republican Primary

Arlen Specter (R) (inc.), 51%
Pat Toomey (R), 49%

In 2004, he challenged incumbent Senator Arlen Specter in the Republican primary election. Aided by $2 million of advertising from the Club for Growth, Toomey's campaign theme was that Specter was too moderate, especially on fiscal issues. Toomey frequently denounced Specter as a liberal spendthrift.

However, most of the state's Republican establishment closed ranks behind Specter. This included Pennsylvania's other Senator, Rick Santorum, who was almost as conservative as Toomey (especially on social issues). Polls showed Toomey losing in the general election to the Democratic challenger, Congressman Joe Hoeffel.

Toomey lost by a 1.7 percent margin after an 11th-hour endorsement of the incumbent, Specter, by President George W. Bush.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat_Toomey

[AlinPA]

7. Peg Luksik will get a lot of the fundamentalist and evangelical vote.

[sandrakae]

8. This is great news. Dems would be a shoe in for that seat if Toomey gets the nod.

[Hawkowl]

9. I predict Toomey by 2%

Why will Spectre lose? Because only the right wing of the rethuglican party remains. The moderates no longer call themselves republicans and they won't vote in the primary. Look at New England. All the moderate republicans are extinct and PA is awfully close to New England. In fact, I would expect almost all of the open seats with rethuglican primaries will go even farther right. Only the true, mad dog believers remain in the rethuglican party and the dems are going to kick their asses from here to about 2020.

Now, I have no idea if Spectre will run as an independent (probably?), and if a Dem can beat both. I like to think that the right dem could.