Pollster.com

lol....maybe Specter will have to switch back to the Republican primary now.
I bet he's "not willing to have [his] twenty-nine year Senate record judged by the Pennsylvania [Democratic] primary electorate".

I liked Arlen as both a republican and a democrat and if I lived in PA I'd probably vote for Arlen. The problem is that Joe Sestak really isn't running because he wants to be a progressive alternative to Specter, he is running because he wants a senate seat and was probably planning on running for it before or when he first got elected to the house. Many of Joe Sestak's actions such as his cruel treatment of his office staff and his annoying primary have been turning me off. I feel like this primary is about voting for the lesser of two evils for most PA dems and if that is how they view it Specter will win. On the other hand if Sestak is sucessful at making the narrative of the race about change than Sestak will win. However, I'd rather have Arlen as a senator for six more years than Sestak and that's exactly what I think will happen.

Jmartin. I like Specter a lot and do live in PA. I will be voting for him (again) and hope he can regain his lead. He's done a lot for PA. Sestak scares me, and I've also heard he treats his staff miserably, and doesn't pay them enough to live on. It's all about integrity and intelligence and Specter has both.

@Obamafan

What integrity does Specter had? He changes parties to suit his political interests, and he was against adding sexual orientation to the definition of hate crimes. How can any decent human being be against something like that?

Hey, maybe if both Specter and Crist make it in, they can run for the Most Integral Senator award.

Now, that would be an exciting race..

I actually agree with Obamafan, Specter has done a lot of good, I liked him even when he was a republican (except for the whole Anita Hill thing). Sestak scares me also, I will be rooting for Specter on election night and hope Pennsylvania voters make the right choice. I wonder what Chris V. is going yell about on this thread.

I don't live in PA, so I wouldn't know much about Toomey, but right now he is ahead in the polls because he is the opposition. PA is one of those states like Ohio and Missouri, that has a huge gap between turnout in midterms and turnout in presidential election. I think Bob Casey who is pretty popular will team up with the winner of this race, and Obama can try hard this summer to get more urban turnout in places like Philly and Pittsburgh, Dems can hold this seat.

Farleftandproud:

One that worries me slightly. Ed Rendell can help deliver Philly. The Dem winner needs to "hit it outta the park" there to have a chance. It doesn't look good in Pennsyltucky or the West this yr, though suburban Philly has been getting bluer each yr.

Now Rendell PUBLICLY asked Sestak to stay out of the primary. I assume this was something that was promised/negotiated with Specter when he switched; that the primary would be cleared for him.

I worry about 2 things:

1. Specter loses and becomes a lame-duck sore loser, now that he doesn't need to prove Dem bona fides anymore. He's not gonna switch back (as if Repubs would take him) but he might hold up some important bill. Now I don' think he'll actually do this but...you never know. He may certainly be a lot more prickly in the months remaining in his term.

2. Rendell does a half-assed job delivering for Sestak in Philly and Toomey piles it on everywhere else in the state and wins. This really does worry me. I mean, Rendell is a team player, generally, but if he feel he was crossed by Sestak I can imagine that his passion for GOTV wont be as strong. A few thousand votes may decide this race, so I'd like to think we have 100% commitment from Rendell to pull out all the stops.

Yeah Rendell wanted Hillary for Dem presidential nominee but he still campaigned for Obama when he was the nominee. I think you convinced me now to vote for Specter though TJ.