President Obama steers clear of shaky Arlen Specter

President Barack Obama says he loves Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) — just not quite enough to hazard an 11th-hour political trip to Pennsylvania for an ally of convenience increasingly viewed as unlikely to win. Just last year, the White House was crowing about Specter’s conversion to the Democratic Party, and Obama pledged, “He will have my full support. . .”

Tuesday’s primary is telling a different story: Once thought to be an unalloyed asset for most any Democratic candidate, Obama’s personal involvement is no longer guaranteed – or guaranteed to succeed. In close to a dozen contests, Obama’s intervention hasn’t paid dividends — whether in picking winners in a party squabble like Pennsylvania, recruiting candidates for targeted seats, or on the stump in the final days of close contests in Massachusetts, Virginia and New Jersey.

It’s a phenomenon that illustrates how even Obama is struggling – and often failing — to control the same political forces that dislodged veteran lawmakers like Sen. Robert Bennett (R-Utah) and Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-W.Va.). With voters angry and channeling their discontent toward Washington, even the president doesn't command as much power over the electorate or strike as much fear in the hearts of his own party.

Tuesday’s crop of primaries and special elections vividly illustrate the challenge for Obama: the number of races where he can have a positive impact has been narrowed by 18 months of constant political warfare, Democratic electoral defeats and his own missteps.

Some candidates don’t want Obama. Others, like Specter, want him — but are deemed too shaky to risk Obama’s direct involvement. “It’s hard to see how he pulls this thing out,” said one top Obama aide of Specter, by way of explaining why Obama would not be in the Keystone State before Specter’s Tuesday Democratic primary showdown with Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Penn.). “Public and private tracking [polls] are all running away from him.”

Increasingly, White House officials view a Specter win as a long shot, made possible only by massive African-American turnout in Philadelphia. Specter’s campaign tried to woo Obama to the city as late as last week. But the White House politely rebuffed them several times, saying the president simply couldn’t carve out the time for a 45-minute flight north, according to people familiar with the situation.

That means the 80-year-old Republican-turned-Democrat will have to settle for Obama’s image on a campaign ad proclaiming “I love Arlen Specter” – and a weekend conference call the president held with black Pennsylvania clergy. Vice President Joe Biden, a close friend of Specter’s who helped engineer the Pennsylvanian's switch, will be in Philadelphia Monday night for a commencement address but had no plans to appear with his former colleague. --SNIP--long read

Fun stuff of the day .....when Robert (the moron) Gibbs was asked about the Dem primaries. First he sucked up some valium, and then he said, "the president wasn't following them." ROTFL.

"Dem primaries? First I'll do my Baghdad Bob impersonation,
then I'll go into my Vinnie Barbarino act. Who? What? Where?"

=================================================

Reminds me of the WH's reaction to the Dem debacle last Nov. The New Jersey race was considered a "squeaker" that would go on till all hours. But two hours after the polls closed, the Repub was declared the winner with a comfortable 4-point margin (would have been higher were it not for Dem voter fraud).

OBAMA WAS DESPERATE FOR NJ's INCUMBENT DEM GOV TO WIN. HE KEPT CALLING CORZINE HIS "PARTNER." Ohaha was heavly invested in the NJ gubernatorial race. His carefully-laid plans----for installing a permanent Dem majority went haywire. Pulling out all the stops for NJ made Ohaha a VERY good target for voters disgusted with Ohaha’s policies.

The NY Times reported:
(a) every TV ad Corzine put on the air was screened by Obama's WH team.
(b) Corzine's aides gave the WH daily briefings.
(c) Obama’s pollsters took over for Corzine’s polling team,
(d) White House operatives were on the ground for internal strategy sessions,
(e) White House operatives were orchestrating obscure pep rallies with Latinos (kept secret from voters),
(f) Ohaha campaigned in the state three times, Biden was there twice.
(g) Ohaha TV ads for Corzine ran relentlessly in costly NY media markets.

Other pertinent facts:

>> Incumbent Dem Jon Corzine (the wealthy loser) outspent the Repub winner about 4-1.
>> New Jersey has a huge Democratic registration.
>> Corzine bragged he had 20,000 paid union helpers on the ground election day to get out the vote.
>> There was a third party candidate siphoning off Republican votes.
>> Corzine had the power of incumbency.
>> Corzine had the power of a crooked Democrat Machine cooking the vote.
>> Ohaha hid $17.5 BILLION stimlulus in New Jersey.....for Corzine's reelection campaign.
>> The crooked NJ Democrat Machine was running at warp speed.

ILLEGAL VOTES TARGETED AS A WINNING STRATEGY

>> White House operatives were orchestrating obscure pep rallies with Latinos (kept secret from voters).
>> Corzine had a "Peruvian Pac" endorsing him.
>> Corzine promised to give illegals driving credentials & in-state tuition.
>> Corzine sucked up bigtime and REFUSED to enforce current immigration laws.
>> Corzine formed a Blue Ribbon committee of latinos and other hypenates who were using tax dollars to mine votes for Corzine.
>> Also sucking up to illegals was Democrat US Sen Robert Menendez, a Spanish-speaking Corzine campaigner.
>> Corzine appointed latinos to the Supreme Court and other high-profile state jobs.

And still Corzine lost decisively.....conceding 2 hours after the polls closed. (Coakley conceded 45 min after the polls closed----after Ohaha made an emergency fly-in to save her campaign).

THE UPSHOT According to Ohaha's slimy Press Secretary, Robert Gibbs, Ohaha was "busy with other matters" election night and "wasn't really concerned" with election results...an indication the WH is sucking up valium and vodka in order to anesthetize themselves from the aftermath.....trying to convince themselves the election was not a referendum on Obama.

The tsunami is ahead---in 2010-12.

====================================================

Ohaha has turned toxic---he is frantic---rushing to get slush funds (from healthcare nillions and unspent stim) money into the hands of ACORN, SEIU, immigrant groups, and others, BEFORE the Nov 2010-12 elections.

Even stupid Dems know that, for them, it's curtains in 2010-12---unless massive voter fraud takes place. They need to buy votes, and are pulling out all the stops to get billions into the hands of their operatives---ACORN, SEIU, immigrant groups, and others.

Specter is going down fast....battered by Sestak's ad and losing with his own ads.

Attack ads backfire on Arlen Specter
NY Post | May 13, 2010 | Abby Wisse Schachter
FR Posted by Scanian

In his primary fight with Rep. Joe Sestak, Sen. Arlen Specter has taken a calculated risk filling the airwaves with attack ads. Specter has accused the previously little known Pennsylvania Congressman of not paying his campain employees minimum wage, while in another ad (as well as during their only debate) Specter acccuses Sestak of being drummed out of the Navy. Now, it turns out that the strategy is failing. "Specter's attack on Sestak in the primary appears to have taken a heavy toll on his image.

Last month, 71% of Democrats and 35% of Independents held a favorable view of Specter. This month, those numbers have dropped to 56% and 30%, respectively. Overall, 50% of Pennsylvanians now hold an unfavorable view of Specter - an all time high in the Quinnipiac poll." (Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...

The Biden/Specter bromance is over?

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/29/us/politics/29obama.text.html

Published: April 29, 2009

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Mr. President, as we used to say in the Senate, I hope you’ll excuse a point of personal privilege here. I — Arlen Specter has been my friend and my confidant and my partner, and I his partner, in scores and scores of major, major pieces of legislation and issues for a long time. And beyond that, Mr. President, he’s been there for me every time things have been tough for me, and I hope I have been there for him.

And it gives me great pleasure, great pleasure, Mr. President, to now officially be in the same caucus with Arlen Specter. We’ve ridden the train for so many years, we’ve visited each other’s homes, our families, that it is — it’s just, as, again, a point of personal privilege, it’s just a delight to have no separation.

Mr. President, I’m even more pleased that Arlen’s independence, integrity and piercing intellect will now be sitting in a Democratic caucus. I think it will be a real added value. Anyone who thinks that Arlen is going to cash in his independence politically has another thing coming, but I think our caucus and our party will be better for it, and as a consequence, I think we’ll be able to serve the country even better than we have.

And the people of Pennsylvania are going to continue to benefit from his fierce — and I emphasize and I need not tell you, Mr. President — his fierce commitment to the people of Pennsylvania and to this country.

So, Mr. President, I am pleased to introduce a man of immense personal courage and unmatched integrity, my friend, Arlen Specter.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.