[Home] [Headlines] [Latest Articles] [Latest Comments] [Post] [Sign-in] [Mail] [Setup] [Help]
Status: Not Logged In; Sign In
|
(s)Elections See other (s)Elections Articles Title: Sestak, Specter Tied Right Down to the Wire in Pennsylvania Senate Democratic Primary Pennsylvania's Democratic Senate primary race is going to the wire as a new poll out Monday shows Sen. Arlen Specter and Rep. Joe Sestak neck-and-neck in the run-up to Tuesday's much-watched primary. Pennsylvania's Democratic Senate primary race is going to the wire as a new poll out Monday shows Sen. Arlen Specter and Rep. Joe Sestak neck-and-neck in the run-up to Tuesday's primary pitting the five-term senator against the two-term congressman. The latest Quinnipiac University poll conducted through Wednesday through Sunday night shows Sestak taking 42 percent of likely primary voters compared to Specter's 41 percent, well within the margin of error of 3.2 percent. The poll surveyed 951 Pennsylvania likely Democratic primary voters. With 16 percent undecided and 25 percent who do back a candidate in the mood to possibly change their mind, predictions on the race are hard to come by. "The Sestak-Specter race is a dead heat and could go either way," said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, in a statement. Specter benefits from party organization, which should help with turnout, but Sestak could win over undecideds, who are more likely to vote for the challenger or not vote, Brown said. "Slightly more of Specter's voters than Sestak's say they might change their minds. Moreover, as we have seen elsewhere this spring, there is an anti-incumbent mood in the electorate and Specter, with 30 years in the Senate, is the ultimate incumbent," Brown said. While Sestak calls himself the "underdog" in the race, recent polling shows he's closed a double-digit gap with Specter in recent weeks. The latest Real Clear Politics poll average shows Sestak leading Specter by nearly 3 points. Sestak, a sophomore congressman and former Navy vice admiral, said Sunday that Specter represents the worst face of Washington. "He is a poster child for what's gone wrong in Washington, D.C. -- a generation of politicians who think that they can take a position not based upon conviction of core beliefs but about their electoral prospects," he said on CNN. But Specter, who switched from a Republican last year to a Democrat, has the power of President Obama and his Organizing for America campaign group behind him. He also has declared himself the voice of reason. "I've tried to moderate the Republican Party. And when the stimulus came up and President Obama asked me for his support -- for my support, and it looked like we were sliding into a 1929 depression, I sided with President Obama. It wasn't my job to be saved," Specter said, appearing on the same show as Sestak. The winner of the Democratic primary in The Keystone State will likely face former Rep. Pat Toomey in the general election. Toomey, who gave up his leadership at the conservative Club for Growth in order to launch the bid, said it doesn't matter to him who wins the Democratic primary. he thinks either challenger will energize the Republican base. Former Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Rick Santorum said Monday that any late surge by Sestak is partly the result of being an unknown quantity in the state. "I think that Sestak is polling better than specter is people in Pennsylvania don't really know him that well. I think Once they get to know him, that's to the advantage of the Republicans," said Santorum, a Fox News analyst. Arkansas and Kentucky are also holding Senate primaries on Tuesday as anti-incumbency fever spreads ahead of the midterm election. Tuesday's contests could demonstrate the power of the establishment versus the insurgent movement. "There have been a lot of discussion about incumbency; we'll find out maybe something maybe about incumbency Tuesday in Arkansas and Pennsylvania where we have two Democratic incumbents in serious races," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press." In Arkansas, incumbent Democratic Sen. Blanche Lincoln is in jeopardy from a challenge on the left. She leads Lt. Gov. Bill Halter in polls, but could fall short of the majority she needs to avoid a runoff in June. Lincoln says she's a target of extremists on the right and left, and has carefully moderated her votes on Capitol Hill recently to reflect her independence. Halter tells voters he represents much needed change. "The message I'm giving to them is similar to the one I'm hearing from them, and that's Washington is not working for middle-class families in Arkansas," Halter told The Associated Press. "We're talking to them about the need for change. If you send the same people back to Washington, you're guaranteed to get the same results." "He's running against something he wants to be a part of," Lincoln said of Halter. "There's things about Washington that I don't agree with either, but that doesn't mean I want to run against it. I want to run to change it, and I did and I have. I don't think all of these extreme groups would be coming at me if I was the norm." Liberal bloggers have put Halter as the winner of the last debate held among Lincoln, Halter and businessman D.C. Morrison, who could deny Lincoln the 50 percent she would need to avoid a June 8 runoff. But recent polls show that Republican Rep. John Boozman, the likely winner of the GOP primary, holds a double-digit lead over any opponent. In Kentucky, Republicans are fighting it out in a race that splits Tea Party activists against establishment GOP. Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson is backed by Washington Republicans like McConnell and former Vice President Dick Cheney. Rand Paul, the son of Republican Rep. Ron Paul, has the support of 2008 GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, retiring Sen. Jim Bunning and evangelical leader James Dobson. At a dinner Saturday night, Paul, an eye surgeon, cast the contest in the most serious terms. "I think that the times we live in are troubling," he said. "I think we face a day of reckoning." Paul leads by double digits in most polls. The eventual Republican Senate nominee in Kentucky will likely face a well-funded Democrat in the general election. Lt. Gov. Daniel Mongiardo and Attorney General Jack Conway are the front-runners in a close race for the Democratic nomination. Kentucky is solidly Democratic by voter registration, but tends to vote Republican in federal races. McConnell said Sunday, whoever wins the GOP primary, the party will unite for the general election. "I think Trey Grayson would be a stronger candidate in November. But I expect Kentucky is going to be in a pretty Republican mood this fall. I'm optimistic that whoever wins the primary will be the next senator from Kentucky," he said. Oregon also holds a primary on Tuesday. But incumbent Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden is facing a longshot challenge from Loren Hooker, who describes himself as a "conservative constitutionalist Democrat" who is backed by the Oregon Tea Party.
Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
#1. To: christine (#0)
I enjoyed helping to run Santorum out of town on a rail, all the way to Virginia where he belonged. If the stupid dems are not smart enough to run Spectre off, I will have to register and vote in Nov, to rid us of this Jew parasite.
I am laughing so hard. Are all reporters idiots these days?
“No amount of reason, evidence, logic or rational argument will ever convince the true believer otherwise.”
Specter was the creator of the single bullet theory in the JFK murder. This POS needs to be flushed.
i remember. he's despicable.
|
||
|
[Home]
[Headlines]
[Latest Articles]
[Latest Comments]
[Post]
[Sign-in]
[Mail]
[Setup]
[Help]
|
||