George S. May Business Blog

Arlen Specter gets resistance in the Democratic primary

Arlen Specter it’s time to put the gloves on.

Despite Barack Obama’s endorsement, two potential candidates are leaving open the door to challenge Specter in the 2010 Democratic primary.

The first, Rep. Joe Sestak, has not announced that he will run, he’s just has not said that he won’t.

“I have not made up my mind on it” said Sestak. “I can’t say that he shouldn’t be (the nominee)…I just don’t know. It’s wait and see. If he’s got it, that’s great.” 

It should be noted, however, that while the rest of Sestak’s party welcomed Specter’s switch, Sestak released a critical statement about Specter on the day of his announcement. Sestak’s concerns are that Specter made his decision to switch after consultation between the senator and the Senate Democratic leadership, leaving Pennsylvania out of the equation. In other words, Sestak believes that the retired Navy Vice-Admiral is switching for political opportunism.

The second challenger is Joe Torsella, a former Rendell aide who headed the National Constitution Center and is now chairman of the Pennsylvania Board of Education. 

“Nothing about today’s news regarding Senator Specter changes that, or my intention to run for the Democratic nomination to the Senate in 2010 — an election that is still a full year away,” he said. 

If I could offer my own perspective, Arlen Specter is going to run away with this. Look at this statistic:

Arlen Specter’s campaign committee has raised $6.7 million

Sestak has $3.3 million

Torsella has $600,000

The bottom line is that these guys don’t have the resources to compete. Furthermore, Specter has the majority of the support from Democrats. When the smoke clears and hype of his announcement settles down, expect to see the Sestak’s and the Torsella’s of the nation take a step aside.

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