Video: I’m Arlen Specter, and I’m scared
posted at 11:27 am on April 2, 2009 by Ed Morrissey
How worried is Arlen Specter about his re-election prospects? Worried enough to go negative on Pat Toomey more than a year before a potential primary challenge. Specter paints Toomey as a big, bad Wall Street type who created all the problems America now faces:
Sadly, this will probably be at least somewhat effective. All we need to see to understand that is the high pitch of rabble that Congress roused in attacking AIG’s retention bonuses. Instead of asking what Specter did to stop the government intervention in the lending markets that created the housing bubble that really created this mess, some people will go into rabble mode and say “Wall Street baaaaaaaad,” with heavy emphasis on the baaaaaa.
Going negative this early is an admission of big trouble, though, and the perception of desperation could hurt Specter more than this tack will hurt Toomey. Specter has decades in the Senate. He can’t come up with a better reason for Pennsylvanians to send him back than Toomey’s work on Wall Street? Well, for that matter, neither can I.
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I’m not changing my state residency until I can cast my vote for Toomey.
hawkdriver on April 2, 2009 at 11:29 AM
We need age limits or term limits or gag rules for these guys.
genso on April 2, 2009 at 11:29 AM
Big Bad Wall Street, or, Big Bad Socialism. I will take Toomey and Big Bad Wall Street.
MDWNJ on April 2, 2009 at 11:30 AM
Bye, RINO.
MadisonConservative on April 2, 2009 at 11:30 AM
When we lived in PA I enjoyed not voting for this clown.
Akzed on April 2, 2009 at 11:30 AM
hahah He is going down!
Should I burn an Arlen effigy at the Blair county tea party?
becki51758 on April 2, 2009 at 11:32 AM
Toomey should do an ad that he promises to READ any bill he votes on, thus preventing the bonus fiasco on Wall Street that Arlen Specter’s vote created.
EXCELLENT AD THAT WOULD BE !
And he needs to do it now !! Don’t let Spector frame the debate. Fight back hard, fight back soon !
stenwin77 on April 2, 2009 at 11:33 AM
Real conservatives hate social everything, but to see this fraud embrace social security is really disgusting. Sadly, it’s the liberal-style “gamble our social security” garbage that will work, because the elderly in the US are reliably avaricious and completely indifferent to the hurt their rapacity inflicts on the young.
TMK on April 2, 2009 at 11:33 AM
“Should we let him have it?”
YES, WE SHOULD!
ctmom on April 2, 2009 at 11:34 AM
Waaaaaay off topic but maybe Ed is reading this.
I know it’s advertising bucks, but the legless kid on the main page is starting to get on my nerves. No offense to her or anything but gawd.
Bishop on April 2, 2009 at 11:35 AM
wow, TMK. i can’t believe you said something so politically incorrect. but i agree with you.
kelley in virginia on April 2, 2009 at 11:35 AM
How the RINO lost his skin.
Isn’t that a Kipling story?
29Victor on April 2, 2009 at 11:36 AM
This really is pathetic. If it were done in the heat of the primary, I would accept the degree of desperation.
But no Republican should be beating down an actual conservative a whole year out. Arlen should be gone for so many reasons, but this ad at this time is the proverbial straw.
myrenovations on April 2, 2009 at 11:37 AM
Weasels: Doing what is beneficial for themselves, not what is right for the country.
Weebork on April 2, 2009 at 11:38 AM
TMK or anyone- Correct me if I’m wrong, but aren’t those serving in Congress exempt from paying SS taxes on their income? If so, how does Specter have any claim to our Social Security?
College Prof on April 2, 2009 at 11:39 AM
dump congress.
kelley in virginia on April 2, 2009 at 11:39 AM
myrenovations: you know, i’m beginning to believe that the Repubs in Congress are just as bad (or pretty damn close) to the Dems. of course, specific examples will differ.
but dump congress anyway. each & every one of them.
kelley in virginia on April 2, 2009 at 11:42 AM
Arlen Specter is the poster child for term limits.
Knucklehead on April 2, 2009 at 11:42 AM
See, you caught that too. But worse, every plan for investing SocSec money was for the young. The grasping old fossils would remain in the ponzi scheme currently in place.
It’s a scare tactic made of lies to frighten the old thieves into voting for the lover of socialism, perfectly suited to a RINO.
TMK on April 2, 2009 at 11:44 AM
He’s desperate. Which is a good sign. Getting rid of Specter and Dodd could help us clean up the northeast.
Doughboy on April 2, 2009 at 11:44 AM
Just another reason why Specter is baaaaaaaaad for conservatives. Privatized social security does not equal your money is in the stock market.
WashJeff on April 2, 2009 at 11:47 AM
A bet on Toomey beats any gamble on Specter not to trash the USA.
petefrt on April 2, 2009 at 11:51 AM
go away. go. no really, go.
marklmail on April 2, 2009 at 11:51 AM
Murtha got away with calling his constituents racists. Long as they keep getting away with it, they won’t stop. Come on
PennsylvaniaUSA, hurl the hairballs out!I know we can do it!
Feedie on April 2, 2009 at 11:52 AM
kelley in virginia on April 2, 2009 at 11:42 AM
And I would mostly agree with you, save for a few members.
myrenovations on April 2, 2009 at 11:52 AM
Im not sure what part of Pa you are in, but a tea party is happening at the steps of the Blair Co. courthouse, 4/15, 12-2.
becki51758 on April 2, 2009 at 11:53 AM
+100
becki51758 on April 2, 2009 at 11:54 AM
Specter can spin any way he wants. He’s DEAD MEAT.
GarandFan on April 2, 2009 at 11:57 AM
By the time of the election Arlen ‘Pinocchio’ Spectre will have completed his transformation into a Donkey, complete with membership card.
Limerick on April 2, 2009 at 12:01 PM
I called his DC office and gave them a stern piece of my mind. I have friends in Philly and I will be donating against this guy.
I’d feed worse about politely ranting at the phone girl but every time I have called there in the past 6 months she has been devoid of emotion and a bit bratty sounding. Some offices have bright and thankful humans saying hello. Not his.
MarcusBrody on April 2, 2009 at 12:02 PM
Benedict Arlen’s only hope is to change parties. He can’t win a GOP primary any more, his protectors Bush and Rove are gone.
james23 on April 2, 2009 at 12:03 PM
Momentum to Toomey in the final hours
radiofreevillage on April 2, 2009 at 12:03 PM
Forget that! The entire Congress Class Picture is a poster for Term Limits!
They have developed the idea WE work for THEM! Can the entire lot and put honest, honorable people who understand the concept of WE THE PEOPLE!
SeniorD on April 2, 2009 at 12:04 PM
Specter will be like so many other incumbents. Say, and do what they have to, to get re-elected. Then turn on their constituents, and find more crap to shove down our throats. They won’t change. Their attitudes will, temporarily, but in the long run, if these bums are re-elected, it will revert right back to business as usual.
capejasmine on April 2, 2009 at 12:06 PM
I will be donating to the Toomey campaign.
FU Specter… RINO POS.
Keemo on April 2, 2009 at 12:07 PM
I wish I lived just over the border so I could vote this ninny out! What a maroon!
HomeoftheBrave on April 2, 2009 at 12:10 PM
Conservatives in PA, myself included, will never fall for this garbage.
msmveritas on April 2, 2009 at 12:18 PM
Maybe someone from ACORN could sign you up anyway.
mchristian on April 2, 2009 at 12:29 PM
Amen! Let’s make it happen. Start with the Tea Parties on 4/15. Be There!
Christian Conservative on April 2, 2009 at 12:32 PM
Hopefully, his constituents will free his from his senatorial duties to pursue other distinguished career opportunities, like representing Ira Einhorn’s appeal.
mossberg500 on April 2, 2009 at 12:32 PM
Hopefully, his constituents will free hi
sm from his senatorial duties to pursue other distinguished career opportunities, like representing Ira Einhorn’s appeal.mossberg500 on April 2, 2009 at 12:33 PM
So Toomey needs to hit back hard and accuse Specter of not supervising him and Wall Street?
I guess it’s going to be a Donald Trump boardroom clash election.
econavenger on April 2, 2009 at 12:37 PM
I watched the same movement against long-time solid Democrat senators after 9/11 when they opposed Bush.
We throw out the baby with the bathwater. It’s the bane of Democracy, I suppose.
AnninCA on April 2, 2009 at 12:38 PM
Or being the GOP’s self destruct ‘Maverick’ candidate for 2012 perhaps.
austinnelly on April 2, 2009 at 12:48 PM
Stupid is as stupid does.
LimeyGeek on April 2, 2009 at 12:51 PM
F*ck you Arlen. I hope you lose.
Tim Burton on April 2, 2009 at 12:56 PM
It’s gonna be a rino roast.
HornetSting on April 2, 2009 at 12:58 PM
Bye Sphincter, you circular band of voluntary or involuntary muscle that encircles an orifice of the body.
Kini on April 2, 2009 at 1:01 PM
Homesting…..this will hurt Republicans most of all.
Why you guys want to see this is beyond me.
My favorite president of my lifetime is Clinton. Obviously, Spector was “awful, awful,” to me in my younger years.
But I watched him over the next few years and gained respect.
Anyway, it’s not my drum to beat.
I’m from CA. I just want Diane to stand up to EFCA. LOL*
AnninCA on April 2, 2009 at 1:01 PM
+1
LimeyGeek on April 2, 2009 at 1:02 PM
Don’t diss da ring man….at least sphincters serve a useful purpose.
LimeyGeek on April 2, 2009 at 1:03 PM
You mean he’s like Tim Gentner?
Socratease on April 2, 2009 at 1:12 PM
Why do you insist on commenting on Republican party issues? You’re not one, never were and never will be. Go back to NQ or TPM or even Kos.
Specter’s constituents hate him. If that weren’t the case, he wouldn’t have needed the RNC, President Bush and Rick Santorum to save his hide in his last election.
He’s been around forever. He’s a dying man, probably literally rotten from the inside out. Get someone new who PA residents respect. And shut up from CA. Your state is a national embarrassment.
chunderroad on April 2, 2009 at 1:16 PM
You need to buy a pair of bifocals and a clue.
HornetSting on April 2, 2009 at 1:21 PM
Somewhere around February/March 2010 Specter will announce he is retiring to spend more family time.
Wade on April 2, 2009 at 1:21 PM
and some maturity
Wade on April 2, 2009 at 1:22 PM
How exactly is this going to resonate with the PA GOP? In two years when all this stimulus money is spent and no one is better off Toomey puts Specter in an ad saying he is responsible for wasting almost $1 trillion of our tax dollars on a bill that he didn’t even read. PA Rebublicans are going to have Social Security ranked low on things that matter to them in 2010.
cadams on April 2, 2009 at 1:26 PM
If the state cannot elect a man of conscience at least elect one with a lifespan
entagor on April 2, 2009 at 1:37 PM
OK by me……
I voted Republican for the first time in my life this year.
That, as you point out, doesn’t make me Republican.
I may never do it again.
It’s interesting to see. I have no big stake in this, though.
It appears to me, sideliner, that the right-wing is determined to tear down any effort to make the party palatable to conservative Dems.
That’s OK by me, too.
I have, as you point out, absolutely no loyalty.
Either you’re attractive or not.
I am not Independent.
I’ll vote for each candidate, based on policy decisions and history.
I’m not into “either of you.”
AnninCA on April 2, 2009 at 1:45 PM
Nobody cares.
HornetSting on April 2, 2009 at 1:47 PM
And you think I care about your opinion?
LOL*
Oh man…..such arrogance.
AnninCA on April 2, 2009 at 1:50 PM
Why doesn’t Specter just doing the other side already.
iamse7en on April 2, 2009 at 2:03 PM
What, Arlen, no Polish jokes?
Oh, I almost forgot, they are only for your Manhattan appearances.
jay12 on April 2, 2009 at 2:07 PM
Specter should be worried, but blame the ex-Wall Street guy. Arlen Specter can’t see the backlash against government coming? By the time the election rolls around in 2010 everybody in congress is going to have so much excrement on them that they’re all going to be in trouble.
kens on April 2, 2009 at 2:22 PM
Did you cut and paste this from a Meghan McCain blog entry?
myrenovations on April 2, 2009 at 2:41 PM
Arlen showed his true colors by voting for the generational theft package … he is dead to me!
redridinghood on April 2, 2009 at 3:08 PM
SUPPORT PAT, GET RID OF THE RAT!!!!
MCPO Airdale on April 2, 2009 at 4:04 PM
+ 10
chunderroad on April 2, 2009 at 5:33 PM
Seriously. There was even talk of him getting some MoveOn love. What happened to that?
chunderroad on April 2, 2009 at 5:34 PM
HEY ARLEN WHY DON’T YOU GROW A SPINE.YOU WILL SELLOUT THE REPUBLICANS EVERY SINGLE TIME I HOPE THE PEOPLE IN YOUR STATE REMEMBER WHAT ITS LIKE TO BE A PROUD AMERICAN YOU REMEMBER THE KIND OF AMERICAN WHO STOOD UP AND FOUGHT AT VALLEY FORGE ,THE KIND THAT STOOD UP AFTER PEAR HARBOR,THE KIND THAT STOOD UP AFTER 9/11 WE ARE AMERICANS AND WE WILL NOT GO QUIETLY IN TO THE NIGHT WE WILL FIGHT YOU ROTTEN LIBERALS TO THE VERY LAST ONE OF US BECAUSE WE ARE AMERICANS AND WE WILL NEVER GIVE UP WE WILL NEVER LAY DOWN WE ARE PROUD AND WE ARE AMERICANS FIRST LAST AND ALWAYS.SO TO THE PEOPLE OUT THERE WHO READ THIS GO TO TEA PARTIES CONFRONT LIBERALS TELLTHEM THERE WRONG PUT BUMPER STICKERS ON YOUR CAR SUPPORT CONSERVATVES REGISTER TO VOTE GET MAD BUT DO NOT LAY DOWN UNDER THIS ATTACK FROM THE LEFT REMEMBER YOU ARE AMERICANS YOUR MAD AND YOUR NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS LEFTIST GARBAGE COME ON ITS TIME TO FIGHT .AND IF THEM ROTTEN LIBERALS WANT A FIGHT LETS GIVE IT TO THEM.
wade underhile on April 2, 2009 at 6:18 PM
Pack your bags Arlen, Pat Toomey will beat you by 10 points. Ciao.
Zorro on April 2, 2009 at 10:06 PM
What a disgust, Specter has become.
It’s time for this used up old politic hack to go.
Vote Toomey!
seanrobins on April 2, 2009 at 11:55 PM