Posted on 03/02/2009 10:44:08 PM PST by freespirited
The GOP angst over Arlen Specter escalated Monday after Pat Toomey said he might challenge the state's senior senator in the 2010 primary.
Toomey, a former Pennsylvania congressman, made his remarks during a radio show Monday morning. It was such hot news among Republican faithful that the Web site GrassrootsPA.com temporarily crashed after breaking the story and attracting megahits.
Many conservatives in Pennsylvania have had it with Specter. For them, the news about Toomey was a chunk of delicious red meat.
Meanwhile, Specter, 79, knows his biggest supporters are on the other side of the aisle -- and in the White House.
Vice President Joe Biden has personally thanked Specter for supporting the $787 economic stimulus bill. Talk about a kiss of death. If voting for the stimulus weren't damaging enough for Specter's standing within the GOP, it would now seem nearly impossible to close party ranks with Joe Biden singing his praises.
"He knows what's worth losing over, and he's willing to act on it," Biden said. "In his heart, I know he's a Democrat."
Specter knew an opponent would turn up for a bitter, brawling, ideological dogfight, but Toomey was thought to be aiming for a run for governor. On Monday, Toomey made news.
"As this disastrous recession worsens, I have become increasingly concerned about the future of our state and national economy. Unfortunately, the recent extraordinary response of the federal government -- more corporate bailouts, unprecedented spending and debt, higher taxes -- is likely to make things worse," Toomey said. "I think we are on a dangerously wrong path. Pennsylvanians want a U.S. senator focused on real and sustainable job creation that gets our economy growing again. That is why I am considering becoming a candidate for the U.S. Senate."
Toomey narrowly lost the 2004 primary to Specter, who squeaked by on last-minute endorsements from George W. Bush and Rick Santorum. At last look, those two fellas aren't around.
Another controversial piece of legislation could be used as a final litmus test.
A bill called the Employee Free Choice Act passed last year in the U.S. House of Representatives. The Senate is expected to send a version of the "card check" bill to the floor for a vote this summer. The bill would fundamentally affect the way unions organize. Under card check, workers would have the right to unionize once a majority of workers signed pro-union cards. Management no longer would be able to insist on a secret ballot.
Specter has supported card check in the past, although he has more recently declined to say which way he would vote. Toomey, the president of the Club for Growth, has been outspoken in his opposition to card check.
"The Employee Free Choice Act actually would take away employees' choices by essentially forcing them to unionize. Despite the claims of this legislation's advocates, it is a relatively simple matter to form a union under current law," Toomey said in an op-ed piece in The Philadelphia Inquirer last year. "If there is authentic employee support for unionizing, then organizers need only win a majority of votes in a private balloting process."
"Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter is the only Republican who has joined the Democratic senators voting to advance the legislation," he added. "That isn't the kind of leadership a state with a broad industrial base needs."
Finally, Biden gets something right. Perhaps we should call him Vice President Broken Clock.
Should be a slam dunk. Come on PA, throw the bum out!
You mean the Spectornator? Yea throw the bum out we need a conservative there!
Election season is coming up.
Isn’t it time for Specter to turn back into a conservative?
Spectornator
LOL, I think that’s the kindest thing I’ve heard him called so far. :)
“V-P Broken Clock”.
That’s funny.
However,I live in Michigan,where our politicians are even worse than Murtha,Specter,etc.
It’s easy now to put Specter in the same column with a traitorous b@stard like Murtha.
Send Money! Snarlin’ Arlen needs to go.
I thought they would have thrown that $hitbag Murtha out, but they didn’t......
Specter is Senate, and the entire State can vote. and as a resident of Pennsylvania, I will gladly vote for Toomey, as we did 5 years ago...
This was good news to hear...I feel certain Specter will be voted OUT.
I’m in PA and gung ho for Pat Toomey. I even shook his hand when he visited a polling place I was at on primary day in 2004.
The GOP Establishment used automated phone calls in my area from President Bush to push Specter over Toomey by just 12,000 votes.
Pat Toomey deserves to win next year.
We need a Tea Party!
Specter deserves to have a few Republican congressman to drag his sorry ass in to the cloak room and kick his teeth in.
We’ll have to wait for Pat Toomey to beat his sorry rear in an election as the Pubbies have NO men in the party, thus no one there to kick specters ass.
I’ll be it is a lot easier to Toomey to troll for campaign funds this go around.
Doesn't it tell you something is really amiss when people who can comfortably retire continue to do a job well past any reasonable age?
Do it, Toomey! (sounds odd...)
No.
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