Posted on 05/18/2010 1:01:30 AM PDT by Nextrush
Its the day we've been waiting for here in Pennsylvania.
Yesterday was the day for six or more robocalls on my phone ahead of today's primary election.
Now I get to vote in the Republican Primary.
Meanwhile, the Democrat Primary may deliver the coup de grace to Arlen Specter. Congressman Joe Sestak has waged a generally hard left outsider campaign skillfully with less money than Arlen has in his war chest.
Sestak is polling close to Specter and may actually pull it off. If he does, those of us conservatives and patriots who have been eager to "beat" Specter can share in the victory, knowing that our efforts drove Specter to the Democrat Party and his doom.
The man who was betrayed in many of our minds during the Pennsylvania Republican Primary six years ago by President George W. Bush and Rick Santorum stands ready to win today.
Pat Toomey is doing well in the polling against a very principled, pro-life woman who has her own political record going back 20 years here in Pennsylvania.
Unknown wife and mother Peg Luksik emerged on the political scene in 1990 drawing 46 percent of the vote against party endorsed Pro-Abortion candidate Barbara Hafer in the GOP Primary for Governor.
Luksik has made the case on her campaign blog that "Pro-Life" groups make endorsements of GOP candidates like Toomey that are less than 100 percent Pro-Life because they are considered electable.
This reminds us all of the astounding "Pro-Life" organization endorsements of Carly Fiorina for US Senate in California who called herself "Pro-Choice" less than two years ago.
Most of our hearts are with Toomey winning today because of the betrayal of 2004, but some hearts are with Peg Luksik and she will get votes in the Senate primary.
More recently, Peg Luksik has become the campaign manager for 12th District Republican congressional candidate William Russell. Russell faced Jack Murtha in the 2008 general election and came back for the 2010 campaign.
Then the GOP insiders decided to run Tim Burns as a candidate in the primary against Russell. The Republican machine picked Burns as the candidate for today's Special Election after Jack Murtha's death.
But Colonel Russell is still in the race for the seat, he faces Burns in the primary. I agree with Phyllis Schlafly's Eagle Forum on this one. I hope insider Burns wins the special, but that the patriot outsider Russell triumphs in the primary.
In another GOP Primary race in the 17th Congressional District of Central Pennsylvania, Lt. Col Frank Ryan, a retired Marine, accountant and Tea Party activist, is the favorite of patriots and conservatives.
He faces one main challenger and two lesser challengers.
His main challenger is the Republican Party-National Republican Congressional Committee backed candidate, State Senator Dave Argall.
Argall voted for a state budget last year that was alleged to be balanced but is now over a billion dollars in the hole. Even worse Argall voted to raise business taxes 800 million dollars.
Five years ago, Argall was a state representative who joined other lawmakers in giving themselves a 16 percent pay raise.
How does a guy like this run in a Republican Primary for Congress?
Argall's ads have the gall to call him a "common sense conservative." The ads attack Nancy Pelosi and say she needs to be replaced as House Speaker. These kind of ads divert voters from Argall's RINO record.
Colonel Ryan polled at 17 percent last week, with Argall at 21 percent and many voters undecided.
Ryan's biggest challenge though are two other candidates touting themsleves as "conservative" and "Constitutional" who take 12 percent of the vote in the poll.
All these candidates splitting the vote could pave the way for the Progressive Argall to win the 17th Congressional District GOP Primary.
"Blue Dog" Democrat incumbent Tim Holden is seen as vulnerable in this district even though he tries to distance himself from Barack Obama.
I have enough time to bring up my own congressional district, the 19th.
Here incumbent Republican Congressman Todd Platts, a member of the Republican Main Street Partnership, faces opponent Mike Smeltzer.
Smeltzer is the executive director of the Manufacturers Association of South Central Pennsylvania, a group long associated with the inside of the Republican Party.
He's joined up with a 912 Patriot group in the district to attack Platts as being "out of touch."
Smeltzer certainly has it right there because Platts is voting liberal 40 percent of the time. When Arlen Specter left the GOP, he voted liberal 60 percent of the time.
But Smeltzer has been forced to admit in debate he supported the TARP bailout in 2008 and lobbied Platts for earmark spending.
Smeltzer has shown in a mailing a picture of Platts with President Obama.
Obama is considering appointing Congresman Platts as Comptroller General of the General Accounting Office. He is one of three finalists considered acceptable to both political parties.
Platts got letters of recommendation for the job from the late Congressman Jack Murtha and Congressman Barney Frank.
This alone should sink Congressman Platts, but the ineptness, deliberate or accidental of his Republican Primary opponent, may insure his re-election.
The Platts liberal record includes support of McCain-Feingold and last year's "hate crimes" law.
Platts started out at 91 percent Pro-Life in his first term, but according to the National Right To Life Committee he only voted 57 percent Pro-Life in the 2007-2008 session of Congress.
Its funny, but the NRL labels Platts "PRO LIFE" at election time in spite of that. Another Carly Fiorina here?
Feel free to drop in your perspective and comments on those.
Makes me wonder what the rainy weather will do to turnout. I guess now we pray.
Yeah, we pray for rain.
The lazy ignoramuses will stay home and the passionate, informed voters will fight their way to the polls no matter what.
I know Josh has the support of many in the Tea Parties around here, I think mainly because of his lawyerly public-speaking skills. Dee didn't have prior experience in that area, and it showed early on. But I have personally seen the progress Dee has made in public speaking and his knowledge of the issues, his personal committment to winning this race, and his strong personal ties to the community and his ethics. I think he has the best chance of putting together a campaign organization that can win in November, and has the personal financial strength to not need to go to DC and need to make money doing such, and has the executive business experience to examine legislation as to how it would impact job creation.
Thanks for the article. I’ll look at this later when results come in.
Hopefully the Conservative who wins the primary in District 10 will send Demorat , Obummer A$$kisser, Carney to the political crap heap .
Sure hope to see spincter crying tonight.
I hope Specter wins today, then loses in November. I would enjoy seeing his hopes raised today only to go down to a crushing, humiliating defeat in the general election, but not before draining his campaign coffers completely dry. Hopefully, Arlen will go out owing millions. I can't think of anyone in Congress who deserves prolonged misery more than Arlen Specter. He is the poster child for political corruption.
Thanks for the great summary. Anyone have a list of all the primaries today? Kentucky and Arkansas getting a lot of press too.
This is a tricky one. Republicans very much want to see Specter gone. Because of that, I’d like to see Specter lose today. Even though Sestak might be stronger in November.
I’d like to see Specter lose today because I know that I definitely do want him gone.
I don’t know if Specter or Sestak would be easier to beat in November. I suspect that Specter would be easier to beat, but I don’t know that.
We want Specter gone. It would be better to have it done now so we don’t have to worry about it later.
i like instant gratification.
plus i think the dums will lose the seat anyway.
After decades of deceit and acting only in his own best interests I think it would have been poetic justice to see Specter win the primary, get his hopes up and spend lots of money thinking he was going to win in November only to then be defeated and fade away as a broken man. I'll take his defeat last night, too, but given his record he deserves A LOT more misery on his way out of town if you axe me......
I like the idea that the clearest message possible was sent to politicians who might be thinking of switching from Republican to Democrat. It’s a bad idea. Obama won’t back you, and you’ll lose.
Sestak wasn’t a Senator, but he is a US Rep, and he’s got the same Leftist record as all the Dems. Sestak is an incumbent, just not as a Senator. Sestak is certainly beatable. An incumbent, Leftist Democrat without high name recognition. He’s beatable.
Sestak also has some controversy swirling around him over the alleged bribe of a cushy gubmint job that the Obamalamadingdong Administration offered him to not run against Specter the Defector. Sestak stepped on some toes and that might be his undoing......
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