They could have supported Toomey, who had a great chance of winning, in the primary....but NOOOOOO they supported their fellow good ole boy.
My guess: Somebody owes Specter big time for the “single bullet theory.”
I have long wondered how Bush / Cheney / Rove determined to support Spector. He was on the ropes in the primary and, IIRC, won with a very slim margin. If the national party had given Toomey support, Spector would have been retired. I cannot recall the issue now, but I remember that it was only a few months later that Spector stabbed them in the back as the thanks and sided with the Dems on some fairly important issue. Twenty years ago he seemed to be a different person. Now he is just an embarassment for the Republican Party.