Conservative PAC Club for Growth is putting Senator Arlen Specter (R-, no wait, D-PA) into a bit of a spot, and in another way, so are the voters of the state of Pennsylvania. The CFG wants to actively alert all donors to the Specter campaign, who contributed prior to his party switch, to his promise of a refund to anyone who wants one. Meanwhile, a recent poll indicates that voters may be ready to make Bob Casey (D-PA) the state’s senior senator only two years into his Senate career.
The Club for Growth plan is especially opportunistic, since the money that went to the Republican Specter’s coffers, and coming out of the Democratic Specter’s hide, may well be redirected to Republican candidate Pat Toomey, who just happens to be the Club’s former president.
The Club for Growth is asking the Federal Election Commission for an advisory opinion as to the legality of the proposal, and fully expects permission to go ahead with it.
Meanwhile, a recent Franklin and Marshall College Poll found that 28% of the state’s voters plan to vote for Specter, compared to 57% who think it’s time for a change, according to CQ Politics. And although he leads his most likely primary opponent, Rep. Joe Sestak, by a wide margin, he also trails “undecided” by a wide margin as well. Right now it’s undecided 48%, Specter 33%, Sestak 13%.
RBR/TVBR observation: Earlier polls had indicated that the moderate Specter couldn’t win in a closed Republican primary but would do just fine in a general election. If that is in doubt, there could be two big spending frenzies in Pennsylvania in 2010, during both the primary and the general elections.
