Union urges Democrats to switch parties AP | 3/24/04 | LARA JAKES JORDAN 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.