Free Republic

Big day in politics tomorrow. Among others, there are two elections in Pennsylvania that will get a great deal of attention, as well as a Republican primary for U.S. Senate in Kentucky, and a Democratic primary for Senate in Arkansas which will keep the lines buzzing for a while. In Pennsylvania, the primary between Sen. Arlen Specter and Rep. Joe Sestak will decide who gets be the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate to run against Pat Toomey in the fall. The likely story is Sestak will win because he is running a very smart campaign, reminding Democratic voters that...

(President Barack Obama and Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., pause atop the stairs from Air Force One upon their arrival at Philadelphia International Airport on Sept. 15. Sen. Specter trails Pa. Republican Senate Candidate Pat Toomey in a new Quinnipiac University poll.) (Joseph Kaczmarek/Associated Press) Pennsylvania Republican Senate candidate Pat Toomey now leads incumbent Democrat Arlen Specter 43 percent to 42 percent among the state’s registered voters, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday. Mr. Specter switched parties from Republican to Democratic in April, explaining that he had no interest in staying in a party that would not nominate him...

Ronald Reagan once observed that “a recession is when your neighbor loses his job; a depression is when you lose your job.” U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter said recently we are on the “brink of a depression.” Perhaps that is because he may be about to lose his job. For months it appeared Pennsylvania’s senior U.S. Senator would cruse to easy re-nomination and likely re-election. The only candidate capable of defeating him in the primary, former Congressman Pat Toomey, was busy with plans to run for governor. Democrats appeared to be without any big name candidates, certainly none with statewide appeal....

Considering that he is in line to head the Senate Judiciary Committee, which examines judicial nominees for federal courts, Senator Specter’s pro-abortion stance is troubling. Barring any unforeseen and truly startling developments, Senator Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) will serve as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee for at least the next six years. He won re-election in November, and because Senate rules now bar retention of committee chairmanships beyond eight years, the current chairman, Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), must step aside when the new Congress convenes in January. Specter, who is next in seniority, will take the chair. This means that...