Toomey Raised Over $500,000 Since Entering Race Three Weeks Ago
It turns out that former Rep. Pat Toomey (R-PA), whose Republican primary challenge against Sen. Arlen Specter had built up such a lead in the polls that Specter switched to the Democrats, has had a pretty good time fundraising.
The Toomey camp has announced that it raised over $500,000 in the time since Toomey got into the race on April 15. Dave Weigel also reports that the campaign says donations surged on the day of Specter's switch a week ago.
The takeaway here is that Toomey has already gained significant support from grassroots conservative voters and activists in Pennsylvania. So if the national party wants to get another candidate who is viewed as more electable, such as former Gov. Tom Ridge or Rep. Jim Gerlach, that new player could face their own set of difficulties in the primary.
Josh
Matt
Eric
Brian
If Toomey is the candidate, then the Dems pick up a Senate seat, no matter who the Dem is. But if Toomey is the candidate, there's no pressure on Benedict Arlen Specter. But if Ridge is the candidate, maybe there'd be some pressure on Benedict Arlen to court the labor vote.
May 5, 2009 11:49 AM | Reply | Permalink
Of course Toomey's rolling in the dough. There's the manufactured national Republican outrage that's keeping this going.
May 5, 2009 11:57 AM | Reply | Permalink
Or they can sit on their hands and do what they did in Connecticut in '06, letting Specter win so he can be a pain in Majority Leader Reid's backside.
May 5, 2009 1:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
Toomey will win the primary. It's already too late for anyone else, even Ridge, given the fact that only Republicans can vote in their primary.
The more interesting race is going to be on the "D" side. Will Sestak get in? I never would have made this prediction even last year but now all bets are off, I think if Sestak gets in he wins both the primary and the general. The past recedes and the future advances, faster and faster every year. Specter is the past, Sestak the future. It's inevitable.
May 5, 2009 1:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
One more comment, I believe things have changed so fast most of the party poobahs on both sides are still living in the past. There's an army of young people out there who have known only the Bush/Republican disaster, and the Obama/Democratic success, and thousands of their friends and brothers and sisters are turning 18 every day. On the other side, every day an elderly life-long Republican passes on to the great beyond, and no one is replacing him.
Proof is in both the Franken election and the NY Special in the 20th. As an incumbent, Coleman should have won going away, and with a 70,000 voter Republican edge, the 20th should not have been competitive in a Special.
The Republican party is dead. They just don't know it yet. And every one of those 18-year-olds represents another nail in the coffin.
May 5, 2009 2:03 PM | Reply | Permalink