[wk4bush2004]

I really think that a lot of people in Pennsylvania are FURIOUS at Specter. Toomey came so close to beating him in 2004; I think he'll beat him next year.

GO TOOMEY!

[Defiant]

Given that Specter is a Dem now, I think Toomey is a shoo-in in the primary. The general is another issue.

[pnut22]

Well CNN just announced Arlen is now a democrat.

[mockingbyrd]

Well Toomey, the nominations all yours. It seems to me it would be easy to run against a guy who switches parties for career reasons.

[pallis]

Specter has always been a Democrat. All RINOs are Democrats who hide out in the Republican Party to destroy it.

[major_gaff]

we tried to elect Toomey before, but the Republicans and Bush put an end to it....

[Non-Sequitur]

If CNN is right then Arlen will be running as a Democrat in 2010 and Toomey should take the GOP nomination.

[Antoninus]

All right Pat! Take it to Arlen in the general, now!

[Ted Grant]

This is PA, which hasn’t gone for the GOPer in a presidential election since 1988, and ran unambiguous Santorum out of town on a rail in a lopsided, embarrassing loss in 2006.

Some optimists thought McCain would win PA in 2008. To anyone with clarity, it was clear that was a long shot.

Specter probably figured (rightly) that running as a GOPer in 2010 in PA would be a strong disadvantage (even if the climate nationally is favorable to the GOP). He may have even figured he would be likely to lose the GOP primary to Toomey. His best shot at keeping his job is running as an incumbent dem and squashing Toomey in the general election, which is likely.

[meyer]

I wonder what Scottish law has to say about this...

[McGruff]

I have gone back to Scottish law where there are three verdicts: guilty, not guilty, and not proved. I am not prepared to say on this record that President Clinton is not guilty. But I am certainly not prepared to say that he is guilty. There are precedents for a Senator voting present. I hope that I will be accorded the opportunity to vote not proved in this case. - Arlen Specter,February 12, 1999

[Tzimisce]

I’m thinking that Toomey must have some powerful numbers if his opponent is already quiting.

[bdeaner]

WOO-HOO!!!!

Arlen is a traitor. His career is over. Toomey all the way!!!

[bdeaner]

[TonyM]

If you are a Pennsylvania conservative you should switch party if needed just to vote against Specter in the Dem primary.

[TonyM]

This now means we can save our money from helping Toomey win the primary and use it for the General Election. Can’t wait to donate for that.

[fortunecookie]

Yes, we are. He's been useless to us, borders on sinister, a poser all these years (we knew what a Rino he was), voting against the Republicans time and time again, and now he wants to join Franken in the Senate to make it filibuster-proof. It's disgusting. They say there's a sucker born every minute and we in PA must have a lot of them to keep him in office this long.

That being said. Toomey has such great potential, he has my support. I would love to see him elected. Go Toomey!