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Posted on 04/02/2004 8:39:04 PM PST by neverdem
LANCASTER, Pa., March 29 — Representative Patrick J. Toomey, Republican candidate for Senate in Pennsylvania, has been ripping his opponent for being a "Ted Kennedy" liberal, too fond of taxes and spending, too close to activist judges and trial lawyers, too supportive of abortion rights and the United Nations.
Never mind that his opponent, Senator Arlen Specter, is a four-term Republican who has been endorsed by the nation's conservative-in-chief, President Bush. Party cleansing, not party unity, is Mr. Toomey's goal.
"The problem we've got is a handful of Republican senators who never really bought into the idea of the Republican Party in the first place," Mr. Toomey told a group of gray-suited businessmen in this conservative city. "I represent the Republican wing of the Republican Party."
Generously financed by an antitax group, the Club for Growth, Mr. Toomey is giving Mr. Specter his toughest primary since he won election 24 years ago. Mr. Toomey has closed to within 13 points or less, recent polls show, with less than a month left before primary day on April 27.
But while a Specter defeat would be a momentous event in Pennsylvania politics, the race is capturing national attention for another reason. Mr. Specter, 74, is the elder statesman of a dwindling band of centrist Republicans in Congress. In taking him on, Mr. Toomey, 42, and his conservative backers are hoping to send a message to all Republican moderates: turn right or face costly challenges.
"If we beat Specter, we won't have any trouble with wayward Republicans anymore," said Stephen Moore, president of the Club for Growth, which has spent nearly $1 million on advertisements criticizing Mr. Specter. The club's members have contributed about $800,000 to Mr. Toomey's campaign.
"It serves notice to Chafee, Snowe, Voinovich and others who have been problem children that they will be next," Mr. Moore said, referring to three moderate Republican senators: Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, Olympia J. Snowe of Maine and George V. Voinovich of Ohio.
Under this pressure, Mr. Specter has spent much of the campaign underscoring his conservative credentials. He routinely meets with gun groups, heralding his support for gun rights, lower taxes and smaller government. And he starts every speech with anecdotes about Mr. Bush while distributing fliers featuring Vice President Cheney.
But Mr. Specter is also unabashed in his disdain for the Club for Growth, which he calls a gang of "Wall Street tycoons." Mr. Toomey, he says, is "not far right, he's far out."
"Virtually everybody except the Club for Growth and my primary opponent agree that a big tent is necessary to be the prevailing national party," Mr. Specter said in an interview.
Although the Club for Growth is by far Mr. Toomey's biggest backer, an array of prominent conservatives have endorsed his campaign, including the National Right To Life Committee and the National Taxpayers Union Campaign Fund. Grover G. Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform and James C. Dobson, chairman of Focus on the Family, have also given endorsements.
"Specter has been a one-man road block to the confirmation of conservative, pro-family judges," Dr. Dobson wrote to supporters. He also accused Mr. Specter of helping to block a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.
Mr. Specter says that while he believes marriage is between a man and a woman, states should pass their own laws defining the institution. Mr. Toomey supports the federal amendment.
But conservatives have not been monolithic in their support of Mr. Toomey, who represents the 15th Congressional District in eastern Pennsylvania. Most prominently, the National Rifle Association, one of the largest and most effective political operations on the right, has endorsed Mr. Specter. Though Mr. Toomey has perhaps a stronger record on gun rights, the association has a policy of protecting incumbents who support their major positions.
Rick Santorum, Pennsylvania's junior senator and a darling of the conservative movement, has also appeared in Specter advertisements. Mr. Moore, of the Club for Growth, said conservatives who back Mr. Specter were missing a crucial opportunity. "For 25 years, they have complained about Specter," he said. "Now we've got this guy cornered and we can actually replace him, and yet there are some conservatives that are sitting on the sidelines."
But some leading conservatives argue that the Club for Growth blundered by making the race a high-profile test of the conservative movement because Mr. Specter might be too hard to defeat. Despite his moderate positions, these conservatives say, he is not "the worst Republican senator," as the National Review said on its cover last year.
"Specter is hard to peg," said one leading conservative, who did not want to be identified as breaking with other conservatives. "He can be with you sometimes."
Mr. Toomey comes from a working-class family, graduated from Harvard on scholarships, worked in international finance and opened a restaurant before winning an open Congressional seat in 1998.
In Congress, he advocated supply-side economics, supporting cuts to the estate and corporate gains taxes, a flat income tax and individual investment accounts for Social Security.
On the stump, Mr. Toomey pokes fun at projects Mr. Specter has voted for as part of appropriations bills, including a rainforest in Iowa.
"He is rated one of the Senate's most wasteful spenders," says a commercial from Club for Growth. "John Kerry? No. Arlen Specter."
Mr. Toomey also warns that if Mr. Specter is re-elected, and the Republicans retain control of the Senate, Mr. Specter will probably become chairman of the Judiciary Committee, where he could block conservative bills and judicial nominees.
"You could argue his liberalism didn't matter when Bill Clinton was president because we weren't going to get conservative legislation signed into law," Mr. Toomey said. "We do have the opportunity now."
Mr. Specter grew up in Russell, Kan., went to college in Philadelphia and became the city's district attorney before getting elected to the Senate in 1980. His arguments for re-election are bluntly pragmatic. He contends Mr. Toomey is too rigidly ideological to win the general election, having voted contrary to the state's Republican Congressional delegation 76 times in five years. Mr. Specter also promotes his seniority, his constituent services and the money he delivers to communities.
That kind of clout seems to be what many local Republicans want. "Money goes with seniority," said Dave Cyphert, chairman of the Clarion County Board of Commissioners in conservative northwestern Pennsylvania.
Incumbency has also helped Mr. Specter vastly out raise Mr. Toomey, collecting $11.5 million in contributions to Mr. Toomey's $2.5 million. With less than a month to go, Mr. Specter has more than $9 million on hand compared with $2 million for Mr. Toomey, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
Both candidates contend they can help Mr. Bush carry Pennsylvania, which he narrowly lost in 2000. Mr. Toomey asserts he will energize conservatives; Mr. Specter argues he can help the president among swing voters and centrist Democrats.
But the biggest factors in determining the primary, analysts say, may be turnout and anti-incumbent sentiment. A low turnout dominated by conservatives could favor Mr. Toomey, the analysts said. Polls also indicate that dissatisfaction with Mr. Specter runs high among Republicans. But that is balanced by Mr. Toomey's lack of name recognition.
Mr. Specter's weakness is also his strength, said G. Terry Madonna, director of the Keystone Poll at Franklin & Marshall College. "He's practical. He gets things done. The pragmatic conservatives may say: `he delivers, even if we don't agree with him.'"
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The part about Chaffee and Snowe was stupid. Has Moore looked at the voting patterns of Rhode Island or Maine?
No wonder this idiot "leading conservative" wanted to stay anonymous. "He can be with you sometimes."??
Money won't always carry the day and Senator "Scottish Law" knows this. That's why his campaign sent change-of-registration instructions to the Transportation Communications International Union which urged its 3,800 members to switch parties in advance of this past Monday's registration deadline to vote for Specter. The Time's reporter forgot to mention this in the article above. As the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review said in an editorial, Arlen is a "desperate coward."
I have already sent sizable donations to Pat Toomey, and I strongly urge everyone within the sight of my post to do so as well. Specter is on the ropes and with your help, Toomey can deliver the knockout punch.
You mean like impeachment, right?
Have you?
Good catch. I was expecting that too, but after his "conservative-in-chief" remark I forgot. These people honestly believe Bush is a hard core conservative. Don't worry about who I'm voting for. I can't tolerate the rats.
Well, there you have it... the money thing. No matter if the money is for a boondoggle project. Also, where does it say thatt seniority should be a virtue of a candidate? What if the candidate is simply too old, too senile, whatever... simply taking up space...
I'm voting for Toomey.
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