Posted on 03/24/2004 11:52:27 AM PST by kattracks
WASHINGTON (AP) — An international labor union is urging its Democratic members in Pennsylvania to switch their voter registration to Republican to vote for Sen. Arlen Specter in his tough primary fight against conservative Rep. Pat Toomey.The registration push comes as national groups scramble to sign up voters for November's presidential race in Pennsylvania, a battleground state and the nation's fifth-largest electoral prize. Voters who don't switch back risk falling through the cracks during Democratic get-out-the-vote drives and other outreach efforts.
Specter, a political moderate who generally supports labor issues, is the only sitting senator in the nation to face a primary. He "needs as much support in the April 27 primary as possible," wrote Robert A. Scardelletti, president of the Transportation Communications International Union in a March 15 letter to Pennsylvania members.
"Enclosed is a voter registration card that you can use to register to vote in the Republican primary if you so choose," Scardelletti wrote in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press. "I realize that this is a somewhat unusual request, but I can assure you that it is vitally important.
While labor unions generally support Democrats, Scardelletti's letter was accompanied by instructions from the Specter campaign on how to register to vote. Scardelletti did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment Wednesday.
Registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by about 445,000 voters in Pennsylvania. The state's primary voter registration deadline is March 29.
Pennsylvania, a political swing state that swung for Democrat Al Gore by a mere 204,000 votes in 2000, is on the national forefront of an intense push this year by both parties to recruit voters. Parties use registration rolls to target voters with campaign fliers and, in turn, push them to the polls.
Since many union members are expected to support Democratic presumptive presidential nominee John Kerry in November, "it's probably not necessary for them to switch back," said Norman Adler, a New York-based political consultant who advises unions.
Even so, "it's very hard" for union leaders to persuade their members to go through yet another registration switch so soon after the first, Adler said. He called the union's push to switch voter registration highly unusual in a U.S. Senate race.
Aides to Toomey, the conservative challenger, said the union support indicates a "late, frantic appeal" to Democrats by Specter.
"The fact that this appeal comes just days before the registration deadline illustrates that Arlen Specter is aware that he doesn't have sufficient support among Republicans to win this race," Toomey campaign spokesman Joe Sterns said.
But Specter campaign manager Christopher Nicholas said Specter would work with any group to try to boost the number of Republican voters in the state to help President Bush in November.
"And we are working with any group that wants to work with us," Nicholas said.
-PJ
Moderate my A$$. If RINO Specter is a Moderate, I would hate to see what a Liberal looks like, oh, wait I already know, it's Ketchup Boy.
In answer to the question you posed on the other Specter thread last night (How are people in your neck of the woods receiving this kind of message about their beloved incumbent senator?) ...
‘Beloved’ is hardly the word I would use to describe the collective opinion of this man here in PA Dutch country (but I suspect you already knew that. :) Which is one reason why, if only for a month, I wish I were out in the Pittsburgh area. Here I am more or less preaching to the choir – although I have met a few choir members recently who were not as aware as they should be of the importance of this particular race (they are now, though. :)
Arlen Specter is a former prosecutor and investigator, served as District Attorney for Philadelphia, where his chief claim to fame (as opposed to reality) was battling against consumer fraud and corrupt public officials -- italics are mine and are subject to dispute :). He now occupies hugely powerful positions in the Senate, serving, among other things, as a senior member of the Judiciary Committee and the Government Affairs Committee. And he is a tireless and vocal supporter of the international criminal court (*cough*), and a self-proclaimed expert on, and situational reciter of, ‘Scottish Law’.
Reading only those qualifications, would you think, at least as regards lip service, that this man has a deep reverence for ‘law’ and proper procedure?
Answer: Only when reverence for ‘law’ does not (1) interfere with the overall achievement of the leftist political agenda, or (2) stand in the way of his retaining his personal political power.
This fighter of crime, purveyor of justice, and expert on laws of all types (even those written in plaid and transcribed by wearers of kilts), is currently undermining the process by which our two major parties nominate their candidates for national office.
hypocrite: -n- one who affects virtues or quialities he does not have.
The nauseating end of the AP article:
But Specter campaign manager Christopher Nicholas said Specter would work with any group to try to boost the number of Republican voters in the state to help President Bush in November.
Honest translation:
Specter will use union leadership to strong-arm strongly democrat union members into falsely registering as Republicans simply in order to re-elect a fellow democrat, by hi-jacking the primary election of the opposition party and subverting the electoral process.
Painting him as a loyal Republican who is merely attempting to boost Republican numbers by recruiting former democrats into the ranks is ludicrous. Nope … grossly understated. It is despicable. Borderline illegal self-promotion and self-preservation does not disguise well as ‘working hard for the good of the party’. It might play well in a kindergarten class, but let’s hope the average Republican Pennsylvania voter is a little more astute.
If justice prevails in the April 27th primary, this former national figure will be back in the private sector, looking for a job that better suits his qualifications.
(And this particular gal will not be buying any hot dogs from his stand.)
~ joanie
This is a disgrace.
Good luck!
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