SALON

Monday, May 4, 2009 2:00 PM UTC

Now, Specter leads Toomey

The Pennsylvania senator and new Democrat got a big boost in the polls from his party switch.

By

Topics: 2010 Elections, War Room, Arlen Specter, D-Pa., Pat Toomey,

Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., has reason to be very happy this morning. At the end of March, when he was still a Republican, a Quinnipiac University poll showed him traiing 14 points behind his rival for the GOP nomination, former Rep. Pat Toomey. Today, a new Quinnipiac poll, now pairing the two in a general election matchup, has Specter ahead of Toomey by 20 points.

There are still two things that might put a damper on the good news for Specter, however. First, there’s still the possibility that he’ll face a Democratic primary challenger. It seems unlikely that such a challenger would be able to get real momentum going, as the Democratic establishment — from President Obama and Vice President Biden to Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell — will throw its weight behind the incumbent. But there is still that possibility, and there is precedent for a Democratic primary challenger to come out on top even when opposed by the party machine (see Lamont, Ned).

Then there’s the prospect that former Gov. Tom Ridge will jump in the race for the Republican nomination. There have been rumors that the GOP will encourage him to do just that, and though conservative activists would oppose any attempt to give Toomey a challenger, a little strategic thinking would show them that’s the wrong way to go about this. The Quinnipiac poll has Specter ahead of Ridge, but only barely — Specter gets 46 percent of respondents’ votes, compared to Ridge’s 43 percent.

Alex Koppelman is a staff writer for Salon. More Alex Koppelman.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
    Credit: AP/LM Otero

  • Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
    Credit: AP/Matt Rourke

  • A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
    Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher

  • Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
    Credit: AP/Molly Riley

  • Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
    Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

  • Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
    Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

  • O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
    Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid

  • Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
    Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield

  • When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
    Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin

  • A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
    Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 9 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

vote
Journalists file suit against Manning's trial secrecy: Plaintiffs including Glenn Greenwald and Julian Assange demand press, public access to trial and documents
136 points137 points | comment
vote
Report: Nearly a quarter of Americans struggle to afford food
117 points118 points | 12 comments
vote
Kaitlyn Hunt refuses plea offer, will go to court over high school relationship - The 18-year-old rejected a deal that would have labeled her a sex offender and placed her under house arrest
90 points91 points | 79 comments
vote
Kaitlyn Hunt refuses plea offer, will go to court over high school relationship - The 18-year-old rejected a deal that would have labeled her a sex offender and placed her under house arrest
94 points95 points | 18 comments
vote
Ted Cruz against the world - How the Junior Senator is igniting the GOP civil war
72 points73 points | 17 comments

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: Chekhov's story mirrors Russia's own

Recommendations