When Senator Arlen Specter defected to the Democratic Party last week, he explained he did so because internal polling showed he would lose the GOP’s primary election to Congressman Pat Toomey, who challenged the fiscally liberal 79-year old for his seat.

The most recent polls among Republican voters had Specter trailing by 21%. Indeed, a significant gap.

So Specter betrayed those who voted for him, and quickly ran to the Democratic Party which was so successful last year. He hoped that especially Obama’s popularity and the GOP’s general unpopularity would help him defeat Toomey in the general election believing that ‘a conservative Republican cannot win in Pennsylvania.’

A recent poll shows that Specter may be wrong: if elections were held today, he would defeat Toomey by a mere 6%. Keep in mind that incumbents should have a double digit lead. Especially if ‘no conservative’ can win one of Pennsylvania’s Senate seats, as the senator himself has said on numerous occasions. (more…)

The Philidelphia Inquirer has a fantastic article up about the polling numbers Senator Arlen Specter saw shortly before he switched from the Republican to the Democratic Party. In short: these numbers and the conversations the PI had with several insiders show that Specter had only one reason to defect – he wanted to hang on to his seat in the Senate.| MORE ›

Senator Arlen Specter is in trouble at home in Pennsylvania. A conservative, former Congressman Pat Toomey, has said he wants to challenge him for the nomination of his party, the GOP. Normally, sitting senators are only challenged by ambitious individuals from the other party. Not so with Specter.| MORE ›

Could Senator Arlen Specter face a Republican opponent next year who could actually win a statewide election? Perhaps so:

Former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge is considering running for the Republican Senate nomination in his home state, according to a senior Republican aide with knowledge of the situation.| MORE ›