If Toomey wins, is that good or bad for Dems?

[AP]

On the one hand, it might be good, because there has been precedent in NY and NJ recently where the Republicans have forced on the general election voters a far right winger whom they rejected in favor of a moderate Dem.

I think this is why Bush and others have been campaigning for Specter -- they know that Toomey will lose the general election.

However, if Toomey wins, the right are going to use his primary win as part of an argument that voters are moving to the right. Will that argument find enough traction that it influences other races? Will it hurt Kerry to have a very energized right wing coming out to vote for Toomey?

Any opinions?

[Bertha Venation]

1. If he wins today, then in November, it's bad for all of us.

One more religious right wing loon on Capitol Hill. Just what we need.

But sorry, I don't know if it'll be bad for Democrats.

[NewJeffCT]

5. Is the R winner a shoo-in to win?

I don't know PA, so I did not realize Republicans were so strong in PA in a statewide election?

[Bertha Venation]

13. no -- my sentence was bad

I should have written "if he wins today, then also wins in November . . ." Sorry. :hi:

[krkaufman]

2. Any far-right win is always bad

It allows their failed policies and goals to continue to be viewed with some veneer of credibility, and keeps them on the media spewing their propaganda.

[AP]

4. In NJ, the far-right candidate won the R-primary for Governor

and lost by a lot in the GE, right? (Or am I confusing races?) And didn't a far-right Republican win the R-primary for the seat Corzine won (or did he beat an incumb.?).

Also, in NY, there was a sense that the Rs put forward a far righ R against Clinton and lost miserably, when a moderate might have been able to beat her (however, there was no primary for the Rs, right, since Guiliani dropped out late?).

[AgentLadyBug]

3. in order to win big....

ya gotta bet big...

seems to about sum it up for me.....

cdj

[Township75]

6. It's tough to say. Specter would definelty win in Nov, whereas...

we don't know about Toomey.

But twice we put Santorum into office, so this could be bad.

[AP]

7. It would be, essentially, an open seat in Nov, which has got to

help Democrats in the fall.

Also, it would take out a very senior Republican from committee assignments.

We're losing Kerry, so it'd be nice for Republicans to lose one of their senior senators.

Of course, it'd be important to see who's next in line on his committees.

[Lauren2882]

8. If Toomey wins, it only says something about Rep. Primary voters in PA

However, if Toomey wins, the right are going to use his primary win as part of an argument that voters are moving to the right.

The right may try to make this argument, but it's a bad one and I don't think they'll suceed in convincing people of it. If Toomey wins today, it says that Pennsylvania Republicans who vote in primaries are further to the right than Specter. That says nothing of importance about general election voters in PA, most of whom will be showing up simply to vote for in the Presidential election. I think Bush will lose in PA, and it'll be way easier for him to bring down Toomey with him than to bring down Specter.

[T Wolf]

9. My question on this has always been

What good does Specter do? How much worse would a Toomey actually be?

Specter has never bucked his party when his vote could be decisive. He casts "moderate" votes when a bill has already been either won or lost. He is scum with a veneer of moderation. Good riddance!

[AP]

12. Furthermore, it's better to have a junior Republican rather than sr...

...republican.

Of course, there would be problems with having Santorum as the Sr PA senator. However, it's my understanding that, in the senate, seniority confers power. Regardless of the party with more seats on a committee, the more senior you are, the more control you have over the committee's busines (right?).

So if Spector is gone, the Republicans lose his seniority and it might actually increase the power of a Democrat (along with other Republicans) on his committees.

[tritsofme]

15. I've read freaks say,

that they would rather see Specter loose the GE than have him chair the Judiciary, which appearently he is next in line for.

[JI7]

10. PA elected Rick Santorum

this is why i don't want toomey to win. i agree dems would have an easier time with toomey as the opponent. but pennsylvania has already elected a right wing extremist like rick santorum so i don't feel comfortable enough that toomey would lose to take the chance.

[AP]

16. You would think that the threat of two right wingers would get a

lot of PA'ians really energized, especially in the cities.

And you know that Mr Heinz-Kerry is going to be trying really hard to win PA, so there'd be a spiral (up) effect of people caring about the race, and Kerry giving and getting help to and and from Dem activists and the Dem candidate for Senator.

If Spector runs, it may promote complacency and reduce turnout.

Think of Hilary's race in NY. People really cared to keep Lazio out because he was perceived as very right wing. Had Guiliani run, Clinton might have lost (or at least turnout might have been lower).

[tritsofme]

11. In the land of Santorum....

why wouldn't Toomey win?

[AP]

17. How did Edwards win in NC? People say, 'enough is enough'

and get organized and energized to make sure that they don't have two insane Senators.

I also think that voters inherently like balance even if they wouldn't admit it.

Does any state have two insane right wingers or two radical left wingers?

[sundancekid]

18. but the whole state of PA is in play in November ...

and IMHO the Dems would come out in droves to lower the neo-con influence and :kick:

[MadinMD]

14. I still giggle

everytime I see the word "Santorum"