Voters Reject Party-Switching Specter
Former Republican Sen. Arlen Specter's plan to switch parties in order to avoid losing a primary battle didn't exactly work out. Despite support from the president, Specter lost the Pennsylvania Democratic primary Tuesday.
Former Republican Sen. Arlen Specter’s plan to switch parties in order to avoid losing a primary battle didn’t exactly work out. Despite support from the president, Specter lost the Pennsylvania Democratic primary Tuesday.
Specter’s opponent, Rep. Joe Sestak, made sure voters remembered the senator’s Republican baggage with this devastating ad:
Rooted in Truth.AP via Yahoo:
Democratic Sen. Arlen Specter lost his bid for a sixth term Tuesday night, a party-switching veteran sent down to defeat by voters rejecting experience and clamoring for change. Political novice Rand Paul rode support from tea party activists to a rout in Kentucky’s Republican Senate primary.
In another gauge of anti-establishment sentiment, Democratic Sen. Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas led in her bid for nomination to a third term, but was below the 50 percent threshold needed to avoid a costly runoff.
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The veteran politician was first elected to the U.S. Senate to represent Pennsylvania in 1980. He spent 30 years in the upper house, making him the longest-serving senator in the state's history.
The 111th Congress produced some real eleventh-hour gains for the Obama administration, and by extension the president's party, but some Democrats, such as Sen. Harry Reid and outgoing Sen. Arlen Specter, aren't ready to get over some of the biggest partisan clashes of the last two years.
By day's end Wednesday, our chums over at the U.S. Senate hadn't moved much closer to the finish line in dealing with the financial regulation bill, to the chagrin of some senators and, no doubt, the satisfaction of others.
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