Specter edges Toomey in tight Senate battle

U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter narrowly won the Republican nomination yesterday, beating back a surprisingly strong showing by U.S. Rep. Patrick Toomey in a race that underscored the national party's struggle to accommodate both moderates and conservatives.

Specter, who is seeking a fifth term, survived his toughest Republican primay challenge by leaning heavily on President Bush and U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum to bolster his standing among conservative voters.

"Now is the time, now that we've settled our family disagreement in the Republican Party, to unite for victory in November for the president," Specter told cheering supporters in a two-minute speech shortly before 1 a.m.

Toomey conceded about 12:45 a.m., saying he was proud to talk during the campaign about limited government, personal freedom, and lower taxes.

"We had a lot of ideas about the principles and values of the Republican Party," he said. "These ideas are at the heart of the Republican Party."

Voter turnout in the state appeared light - despite the close attention the race received from political observers around the country who considered it a guide on the direction of the Republican Party. At issue was whether the GOP still had room for centrists such as Specter, or only consistent conservatives such as Toomey.

President Bush actively backed Specter, believing he would be the best one to deliver Pennsylvania in the presidential election and hold the GOP's slight edge in the Senate.

Toomey was boosted by millions of dollars from conservative donors unhappy with Specter's tendency to vote with Republicans one day, Democrats the next.

Specter will face U.S. Rep. Joseph Hoeffel, a Montgomery County Democrat who ran unopposed for his party nomination, in the fall general election.

At the Park Hyatt at the Bellevue in Center City last night, Specter aides paced the grand ballroom shortly after the polls closed, nervously mining their BlackBerry handheld computers for information.

Specter made an unexpected visit early in the evening, joking about breaking tradition by speaking to supporters with the race still undecided. "But as you can tell by my record generally, I don't know a lot about protocol," the independent-minded senator said from the ballroom stage. "It's gotten me into a lot of hot water."

About an hour north, in Fogelsville, Lehigh County, Toomey supporters gathered at a Holiday Inn. As they waited for the election results, Star Trek played on a giant-screen TV.

Specter voted in Philadelphia before hitting poll sites in the region and giving several last-minute radio interviews.

Toomey started his day in Lancaster County, a conservative stronghold where he needed to perform well. He later returned to Zionsville, Lehigh County, to vote.

Only a month ago, Specter looked unbeatable. He had millions in campaign cash. He enjoyed the active support of the Republican establishment, from the White House to most Pennsylvania county courthouses. He had spread federal dollars across the state for 24 years, giving him plenty of local allies.

Specter positioned himself as Pennsylvania's powerbroker in Washington, the senator who used his seniority to bring influence to the state. He repeated the theme relentlessly.

But he found his reelection increasingly threatened by Toomey, a three-term junior representative from Lehigh County who was barely known outside in his district, which includes parts of Montgomery County.

Specter found himself weakened even as he outspent and outraised Toomey. The race's $18 million price tag - $14 million for Specter, $4 million for Toomey - made it the most expensive congressional race so far this year.

Toomey, a former restaurant owner and banker, used hard-hitting campaign ads and a tight focus on several key conservative issues - lower taxes, less government, abortion opposition - to narrow the race.

Toomey picked up support from leading conservatives around the country, who pushed his cause on the Internet and in right-leaning journals. The result was a steady flow of money and manpower to help combat Specter's advantages. The Club for Growth, a Washington group, pumped more than $2 million into the race in donations and campaign commercials.

The assistance allowed Toomey to tap into conservative resentment over Specter's 24-year record. Toomey repeatedly called the senator a tax-and-spend liberal. He reminded voters about Specter's 1987 vote that sank conservative U.S. Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork. And Specter's support from labor unions and trial lawyers, and history of siding with Democrats on issues.

Polls in the last two weeks showed that Toomey's message may have been resonating as he closed the race to single digits. But there was some evidence that Toomey's surge was beginning to slow over the weekend. That was when the Specter campaign began flooding the TV airwaves with a Bush endorsement ad.

Throughout the campaign, Specter and other top Republicans warned that a Toomey win could cost the GOP the White House and control of the U.S. Senate. Analysts say Bush would be better positioned to win Pennsylvania - a key swing state - with Specter on his ticket.

A Specter ad went up Friday asking voters to honor Bush's request to re-elect the senator. On Monday, voters across the state heard a telephone message that replayed clips from Bush's appearance last week in Pittsburgh at a Specter rally and fund-raiser. The National Republican Senatorial Committee, which had already provided $300,000 for Specter's final media buy, paid for the calls.

The active support from Bush and Santorum may have saved Specter, 74, a former Philadelphia district attorney. Last week, Specter acknowledged the value of their help. "Whether I would win it without them, I don't know," Specter said. "But I am glad to have them on my side."

Donald Matzelle, 68, a Chester County Republican, responded to the party pleas. "I believe as a centrist he will be of more value in the general election for George Bush," said Matzelle, a Birmingham Township resident who voted for Specter.

Julianne Eisele, 50, was drawn to Toomey because he opposed abortion and Specter was too happy to spend government money.

"I feel Specter is a Democrat in Republican guise," Eisele said after she voted in Birmingham Township, Chester County. "I'm very disappointed with the man, and I'm very disappointed that Bush endorsed him and Santorum endorsed him."

Toomey was stymied by Specter's power of incumbency, which secured the state Republican committee to turn out the vote for him yesterday. Toomey had to rely on a network of committed volunteers.

Contact staff writer Carrie Budoff at 610-313-8211 or cbudoff@phillynews.com. Staff writers Diane Mastrull, Walter Naedele, Lini Kadaba and Dick Cooper contributed to this story.

I'll help you three out and you all can sign up here at the website of Hoeffel to give the cyber finger to both Toomey and Specter.

If anyone's interested, the URL to contribute to Hoeffel is http://www.hoeffelforsenate.com/involved/contribute.cfm

I do not ever expect to share every single judgement of the people for who I vote.

Well let's see Toomey(the guy you support, I also) says he agrees more with Arlen Specter, yet you wish to see the election of a person who disagrees more with the guy you support(Toomey).

Have no idea, if this is Wednesday morning disappointment for a campaign that you worked for, but the kamikaze political tactics that you are proclaiming this morning, is not very logical, IMO.

I am waiting to see how the other Senate races shape up.

If it is clear that the Republicans will control the Senate regardless of who wins in Pennsylvania, then the race to me is not Specter vs. Hoeffel, but Specter vs some other judiciary committee Republican for the chairmanship. In that case, I will vote against Specter (and Hoeffel would get my vote).

If it is clear we would lose the Senate, then I would vote for Specter.

If it is unclear, I am not sure what I will do.

Well let's see Toomey(the guy you support, I also) says he agrees more with Arlen Specter, yet you wish to see the election of a person who disagrees more with the guy you support(Toomey).

It depends on how the question is asked. If you ask me who I think is a better choice for the Senate between Hoeffel and Specter, no brainer on the latter. But if you ask me who I think is a better choice for the Judiciary Committee chair, Specter or Hatch (or Sessions or Kyl or Grassley) it is also a no brainer in the other direction; I think if Toomey was being truthful he'd also say that he thinks compared to the others Specter is not the right man for the judiciary chair. He won't be asked that, and he won't say it on his own though.

And to me, the Judiciary chair is more important than a single Senate seat. It may not be to you. We all have our own judgments to make.

I am glad to see you say you support Toomey. If me deciding to go against his wishes is objectionable to you, then how did you ever support him in the first place since it went against the wishes of someone else you support (Bush, as do I)?

It's called a primary and that is what primaries are for. Toomey has stated that he will support Specter in the next and biggest battle, the general election.

I pretty much agree with your assessment. I guess it is "the day after" frustration that I'm feeling right now. If it's true that the vast majority of conservatives are too busy to pay attention then we should not be surprised that we lose more battles than we win.

A good point, and one that is definitely in my considerations. I believe that things for particular seats should, in general, only be hashed out in primaries.

But this is not just about a particular seat. It is also about a very important committee chairmanship, and that is one where there is no primary. It is also important enough to me that the general rule goes out the window.

I can understand your concerns. I share some of them also, but in my big picture, Hoeffel would be a bigger disaster than Specter, and I can also understand your disappointment at the closeness of last nights primary results.

Is my big picture perfect, no. But whose big picture or life is?

[quote]The spread was about 16000 votes in this victory for Specter. What I would like to see is the statistics for 'party switches' that allowed democrats to vote in the republican primary.[/quote]

I, and people I know have done this in reverse by registering Democrat and skewing their numbers. Not something we can complain about when we do it as well.

Hoeffel would be a bigger disaster than Specter

And this is the crux of why you and I are planning on voting in different directions.

I think we agree that Hoeffel will be a much worse Senator than Specter will.

I also think we agree that Specter will be a disaster as Judiciary committee chairman.

You see the damage from the first as being more than the damage from the second, and as such will vote Specter. I see the latter as more damaging than the former, and unless we are looking at Chairman Leahy, will vote against Specter.

At least that's my thinking for now. We'll see how the campaign plays out.

There is a difference. Residing in Maryland, I am not forced to vote for the wretched pair, Specter or Hoeffel

Correct, you have the dems Sarbanes and Mikulski who usually win with 70% of the vote.

You have a pretty good Governor in Ehrlich, although I am surmising he is not good enough to you given your, IMO, purist rhetoric.

This Toomey voter will DEFINITELY vote for Specter. No way am I going to be a part of having one of PA's Senators be a RAT. Or risk having the RATS take over the Senate again. Specter's not my ideal, but at least there's an (R) after his name. That means a lot when control of the Senate (judicial appointees, etc.) is at stake.

Today's News
After Win, Specter Looks To Fall Election (already distancing himself from Bush)

Well, most real conservatives don't play the strategy, over ideology game. Toomey supporters will sit the fall out rather than support Sphincter. Better a Rat rejecting President Bush's judicial appointments than a Republican Judas like Specter.

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