Specter's Strategy: Turn Off Primary Voters With GOP Mudfest

Senate's nastiest member fights for his political life

"Arlen Specter’s bad poll numbers must be causing him hallucinations. Everything he attacks Pat Toomey with is either proven false by neutral analysts or is something Specter himself has done." Well... that may be a little extreme but Toomey has a point when he claims that Snarlin' Arlen Specter has been hurling some false charges his way. Remember the video of Specter's first ad we showed you last week? Within days it was taken down-- with no explanation given-- from Specter's website. We just took the same ad from YouTube, which apparently isn't as fanatical about taking down misleading campaign ads as it is about taking down unauthorized music clips. Fact is the "ad incorrectly claimed Toomey had traded the type of derivatives back in the 1980s that led to the current housing meltdown. Toomey countered that the credit default swaps at the center of the crisis did not exist when he was a Wall Street trader."

The ad probably made an impression. But Specter, whose polling numbers make it clear there is no way he can win a Republican primary, was happy to up the ante and go after Toomey for his association with the far right wing front group, Club For Growth. No one can claim Toomey isn't associated with the neo-fascist fanatics; he's the president. Specter sent an open letter to Toomey, published all over Pennsylvania (and on CNN), demanding to know why Toomey is hiding his corporate donors' information and asking how many have taken TARP bailout funds. The letter:

Dear Mr. Toomey,

I understand from numerous press reports that you are soon to leave the Presidency of the Club for Growth to run for the U.S. Senate. 

In recent weeks as you have shifted your attention from a long-planned run for Governor to another Senate campaign, you have criticized the TARP bill I voted for last fall. Given the Wall Street background of your members, it seems clear that many of them would have received TARP monies.

Please gather a list of the contributors to the Club for Growth by contributor name, date, amount and whether they received TARP money and if so, how much and when.

Sincerely,

Arlen Specter

Toomey's answer was pretty brutal yesterday: Club For Growth, he pointed out, doesn't take any corporate donations. And he went further, pointing out-- accurately, that Specter is "one of the biggest recipients of campaign donations from Wall Street firms and other beneficiaries of the $700 billion bailout from the Troubled Asset Relief Program." Specter has taken in $5,753,310 from the finance/insurance/real estate sector, more than any other sitting senator who wasn't a presidential candidate other than Schumer and Lieberman, two notorious Wall Street whores.

Whether Specter, well known for being one of the nastiest and most vicious campaigners in Congress, is just goofing up or, more likely, purposely lying about Toomey, he gets to make points that voters rarely learn are false. This morning, The Hill carried the over-all theme Specter is trying to convey: "Toomey is too conservative to win a general election race in Pennsylvania, claiming his likely primary opponent 'is to the right of Rick Santorum.'"

During an appearance on MSNBC's Morning Joe program, Specter (R-Pa.) provided a preview of his strategy against Toomey. Specter said Toomey fought for deregulation, embraced private accounts in Social Security and, if nominated, would lose the general election and allow Democrats to pass so-called card-check legislation favored by organized labor.

Specter said Toomey is "to the right" of former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.), adding, "Santorum lost by 18 points [in 2006], spent $31 million and was a two-term incumbent."

The jab at Santorum comes in the wake of Santorum's silence on whether he will endorse Specter's bid for a sixth term. Santorum backed Specter in his tight 2004 primary win over Toomey. President Bush also backed Specter over Toomey.

"If Toomey is the nominee, you can be sure he'll lose," Specter said, claiming Democrats would then have the votes to pass card-check and allow the White House and congressional Democrats to steamroll their agenda through Congress.

I have little sympathy for Toomey on any issues at all but I certainly understand how he feels about Specter's tactics and incredible sleaziness. From the Toomey campaign this morning: "Pennsylvanians have come to expect bizarre behavior from Arlen Specter, but this takes his desperation to a new and very strange level. Specter can’t defend his own liberal record, so he’s attacking Pat Toomey, who isn’t even in the race yet, with lies about work Pat did 20 years ago. It looks like Specter wants to put Pennsylvanians through a long, dishonest campaign ... for one final time.”

And today he spent some time gabbing live on the air with Howard Stern-- and was honest enough to say he opposes marriage equality for gay people, something I think every gay person, and every relative or friend of a gay person, in Pennsylvania should think about for a few moments.