Sen. Arlen Specter is in what’s turning out to be a knockdown, drag-out battle for him to keep his U.S. Senate job.
With Specter on the ropes as his opponent, U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak, keeps throwing punches over Specter’s 44-year Republican past. And the five-term senator made a flub in front of a group of potential voters Tuesday night that could feed the fire.
Specter was speaking to a group of Allegheny County Democrats when he let his Republican past slip into his Democratic present.
“I thank the Allegheny Republican Committee for endorsing me for the Democratic nomination,” Specter allegedly said while campaigning in the Pittsburgh area. An audio moment posted to YouTube.com.
Later in the same remarks Specter allegedly said, “Great pleasure to be endorsed by the Allegheny County Republicans and together we’ll win victory.”
The 80-year-old senator switched parties last year in a move that pundits saw as Specter attempting to keep his job in the U.S. Senate.
A new poll Wednesday showed that Pennsylvania's Democratic primary race for U.S. Senate was too close to call with less than a week left before the May 18 primary.
Politics
What had been a decisive lead for Specter five weeks ago had virtually evaporated.
Specter joked about his gaffe when he spoke to reporters after the event, according to Pittsburgh’s KDKA.
The longest serving senator in Keystone State history went on MSNBC Wednesday but didn’t really elaborate any further about his slip up.
“When you rush out of the Senate, out from a vote and hop on a jet you may misspeak,” Specter told MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell.
Specter’s mind could be on the polling where his lead has disappeared.
The latest poll by Quinnipiac University in Connecticut measured the sentiments of 945 voters likely to cast ballots in the primary.
The Quinnipiac poll gave Specter 44 percent and Sestak 42 percent. The sampling error margin was plus or minus 3.2 percentage points. Fourteen percent were undecided. The telephone survey was conducted May 5 through Monday.
Sestak, a second-term congressman from suburban Philadelphia and retired Navy vice admiral, was boosted by a wave of anti-incumbent sentiment and an effective TV ad tying Republican-turned-Democrat Specter to former President George W. Bush, political observers said.
Sestak had trailed Specter by 21 points in a survey by the same pollster released April 8.
Also Wednesday, Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster released a poll showing Specter with a slight lead -- 38 percent to Sestak's 29 percent -- among registered Democrats. The sampling error margin was plus or minus 4.9 percentage points. Almost one in three were undecided. The telephone survey of 404 registered Democrats was conducted May 3 through Sunday.
