All Blog Posts from Political Hotsheet

Democratic Sen. Arlen Specter has lost his edge over Pat Toomey, his expected Republican challenger in the 2010 Pennsylvania Senate race, according to a new poll released today by Quinnipiac University. Toomey, a former congressman, now has 43 percent to Specter's 42 percent, a reversal from last July when Specter held a one point lead over Toomey, 45-44.

However, the poll results also suggest that Specter is well positioned ahead of the Democratic primary next year. His leading opponent, Rep. Joe Sestak, is trailing him by 19 percentage points, holding only 25 to Specter's 44.

When pitted against each other in a hypothetical matchup, Sestak and Toomey are also close with Toomey barely ahead 38 to 35 percent. But this matchup has also received the highest percentage of undecided voters at 25 percent.

The poll of 1,100 Pennsylvania voters has a margin of error of three percentage points.

Despite his lead, however, Toomey is still largely unknown to Pennsylvanians, with 53 percent of voters saying that they "do not know enough about him to form an opinion." In a run against the high-profile Specter, whose approval rating has fallen to an all time low in the poll at 44 percent, Toomey's lack of fame and notoriety could turn into a positive. A final outcome, it seems, could rest on who reaches voters first to inform them about Toomey.

Read full post…

Fiercely vocal opponents to President Obama's health care reform agenda have a right to speak their mind, but don't "represent all of America," Sen. Arlen Specter said Wednesday.

The former longtime Republican, who switched party allegiances in April, was one of several Democrats to face heated criticism from constituents in town hall meetings across the country over proposed health care reform. (See video below.)

Opponents have railed against the Democratic proposals, characterizing them in general as government-run health care that will overburden taxpayers. Critics have taken specific issue with so-called "death panels," which will supposedly force elderly Medicare patients to seek end of life treatments. (Though those rumors have been proven false.)

"These people have a right to be organized," Specter said on CBS' "The Early Show" Wednesday. "I'm not going to complain about the fact that they are organized. They have a right to do that and they have a right to speak. But I think we ought to understand that they're not necessarily representative of America."

Read full post…

Sen. Arlen Specter held a town hall meeting this morning in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, and the proceedings were relatively civil – with one notable exception.

Angry that he had not been among the roughly thirty people who had been given the opportunity to ask the senator a question, one man began yelling – at which point he was pushed by another attendee and it appeared a fight might break out.

Specter intervened in an effort to calm everyone down. The man, waving a piece of paper, then turned to Specter and complained that he could not influence the senator because he is "not a lobbyist with all kind of money to stuff in your pocket." He also referred to Specter as "crooked."

"One day, God's gonna stand before you," the worked-up man said as the senator looked at him without expressing emotion. "And he's gonna judge you and the rest of your damn cronies up on the Hill -- and then you will get your just desserts."

Read full post…

A new Quinnipiac poll shows Democratic Senator Arlen Specter's lead over Republican Pat Toomey in the 2010 Pennsylvania Senate race has diminished significantly over the past three months.

Specter now leads Toomey by just one percentage point, garnering 45 percent of the vote to Toomey's 44.

An early May Quinnipiac poll showed Specter with a 20 point lead over Toomey, which dropped to 9 points by the end of the month.

Specter’s current favorability rating now sits at 45 percent, while 44 percent having a unfavorable opinion. According to the poll, 49 percent of voters believe Specter does not deserve reelection and 47 percent disapprove of his handling of his job.

Read full post…

Al Franken’s victory in the Minnesota Senate race gives Democrats a filibuster-proof majority in that chamber, and President Obama wants to keep it that way. That’s why he has been asking Democrats across the country to refrain from challenging incumbent Democratic senators in primary races.

But Representatives Joe Sestak and Carolyn Maloney, seen left, are disregarding Mr. Obama's request. Both have announced their candidacy for 2010 Senate Democratic primaries.

According to the Pennsylvanian Wayne Independent, Sestak said Wednesday that he will challenge Senator Arlen Specter, the Republican-turned-Democrat of Pennsylvania.

Read full post…

A roundup of news, schedules, and key stories from CBS News Political Director Steve Chaggaris:

**President Obama is Germany; visits site of former concentration camp...

**World reacts to president's speech to Muslims...

**Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor turns over questionnaire to Senate Judiciary Committee... reveals she used "wise Latina" line in many speeches over the years...

**Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., faces his state's Democratic Party for the first time this weekend...

**Plouffe to help Gov. Deval Patrick, D-Mass.

PRESIDENT'S OVERSEAS TRIP: President Obama is in Germany today where he met earlier with Chancellor Angela Merkel. Later this morning, he'll visit the former concentration camp at Buchenwald; Mr. Obama's great uncle, Charles Payne, helped liberate a nearby camp, Ohrdruf, during World War II. And this afternoon, he'll visit wounded troops at the U.S. military hospital at Landstuhl.

"Obama arrived in Dresden on Thursday night after giving his speech on relations with the Middle East in Cairo, Egypt," reports Der Spiegel.

"Early on Friday morning Obama arrived at the historic Dresden Castle, a pearl of Baroque architecture that houses a number of outstanding museums, to hold talks with Merkel. Obama signed the city's guest book in an ornate room, writing 'Greetings from the people of the United States!' and then departed for an hour of private talks with the chancellor. The two leaders discussed the economic crisis, the ongoing tensions with Iran and North Korea over their nuclear program, policy toward Russia, the carmaker Opel and the situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

"However, Obama did not ask Merkel to make any firm commitment to take inmates from the US military prison in Guantanamo, Cuba. Speaking at a joint press conference after the talks, Obama said that the issue of what to do with the inmates would not be resolved in the next two to three months. 'It will take longer.' …

Read full post…

Sen. Arlen Specter will likely face at least one challenger in the 2010 Democratic primary for his Pennsylvania Senate seat, though a poll shows the former Republican could solidly beat his potential Democratic opponent.

Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Penn.) confirmed on CNN on Wednesday night that he intends to enter the race, so long as his family approves.

"I personally have made a decision that I intend to get in this race with one other item," Sestak said. "I haven't … had the time to sit down with my eight-year-old daughter or my wife to make sure that we are all ready to get in."

A Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday showed registered Democrats in the state prefer Specter over Sestak, 50 to 21 percent. The poll was conducted May 20 - 26.

The poll also showed Specter would beat his Republican opponent, former Rep. Pat Toomey, 46 percent to 37 percent. While Specter still holds a nine-point lead over Toomey, a Quinnipiac poll from early May gave Specter a 20-point lead.

Read full post…

Sen. Arlen Specter's only challenger in the Pennsylvania Democratic primary, Democrat Joe Torsella, has dropped out of the 2010 Senate race.

Torsella, the former president of the National Constitution Center, announced his decision Thursday night in a statement to supporters and in a video on his Web site.

He said Sen. Specter's recent switch from the Republican to the Democratic party changed the nature of the primaries.

"Now that the dust has settled, it's clear to me that the kind of campaign this would become is not the kind of campaign you or I signed up for," he said. "It would probably be negative, personal, and more about Senator Specter’s past than our common future. And that won’t do Pennsylvanians any good."

When Specter announced his move to the Democratic party on April 28, he acknowledged that his chances for re-election were stronger with the Democrats. President Obama and other Democratic leaders embraced Specter and have pledged to support him in the 2010 primaries.

Read full post…

Tom Ridge, the moderate former Pennsylvania governor, is seen as a formidable potential challenger to Republican-turned-Democratic Sen. Arlen Specter in the Pennsylvania senator's upcoming reelection bid.

But in some good news for Specter, Ridge has announced that he will not seek the Republican nomination for the seat, which will be contested next year.

In a statement, Ridge said the "difficult and deeply personal" decision came "after careful consideration and many conversations with friends and family and the leadership of my party."

"The 2010 race has significant implications for my party, and that required thoughtful reflection," he said.

Read full post…

Sen. Arlen Specter has reclaimed some of his authority on the Senate Judiciary Committee, one day after the Senate voted to consider the former Republican a junior member of the Democratic Party.

Democratic leaders have agreed to let Specter replace Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) as chair of the crime and drugs subcommittee. Durbin said Specter has been "a leader on criminal justice issues for decades." The panel, which is the Judiciary Committee's busiest, is responsible for legislation on drug sentencing.

"Over the past several days, Senator Reid, Senator Leahy, Senator Specter and I have had a number of conversations about ways to best utilize Senator Specter’s talents and experience in our caucus," Durbin said in a statement, adding, "I will continue to play a significant role on issues within the subcommittee’s jurisdiction – especially those affecting Illinois."

Read full post…