Toomey: Specter Has "Raised A Real Question About Whether He Can Be Trusted"
Former Rep. Pat Toomey (R-PA), whose conservative primary challenge against Sen. Arlen Specter caused Specter to switch to the Democrats, is showing off what could be his main talking point for the 2010 general election: You just can't trust this guy.
"If Senator Specter does manage to win the Democratic primary, he has raised a real question about whether he can be trusted," Toomey told the Cumberland County Sentinel. "He took one look at a poll and he abandoned the party."
Toomey previously ran against Specter in the 2004 primary, and only lost by 51%-49%. After Toomey declared that he would be challenging Specter again, and when polls showed he could win the primary in a landslide, Specter then joined the Democrats -- and is now facing a Dem primary challenge from Rep. Joe Sestak.
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Brian
I'd guess that Sestak could use the same argument against Specter in the Democratic Primary.
June 24, 2009 11:48 AM | Reply | Permalink
He is already -- that's what his "flight risk" comments are all about. Toomey's use of it is a little odd, though -- if you "can't trust" Specter to stay a Democrat, that doesn't seem like a strong Republican argument against him.
June 24, 2009 12:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, this argument isn't just for the general. The idea is to help build up bad blood in the Democratic primary. Toomey also probably believes that Sestak will be easier to beat in the general than Specter. He's the artillery; he ends up with either a weaker opponent, or a weakened opponent. (He's disfavored to win either way, of course.)
And being an untrustworthy unknown is, in itself, always a bad thing, even against a known evil. Making Specter solidly an untrustworthy choice for Democrats will depress turnout significantly. It also boxes him in; if Specter runs right, he's being disingenuous and breaking the trust of Democrats. If he goes left, he's just doing it for the sake of electoral expediency.
June 24, 2009 3:06 PM | Reply | Permalink