STATE COLLEGE — Pat Toomey wouldn’t say if he sees himself as the new face of the Republican Party. But the
47-year-old can clearly see himself as a Pennsylvania senator in 2011, following what is shaping up to be a battle with Republican-turned-Democrat Sen. Arlen Specter.
Toomey, considered the likely Republican nominee, swung through Centre County on Thursday, stopping briefly to speak with reporters at the University Park Airport while on his way to Philadelphia.
He will be opposed in the Republican primary by pro-life advocate Peg Luksik of Westmont.
Toomey said he has been unsettled by developments in Washington, with the possible seating of Al Franken of Minnesota and Specter’s party switch giving Democrats 60 seats
– enough to break a filibuster by Senate Republicans.
“Without the ability to filibuster, there is no way for the Republicans to maintain their seat at the table ... which Republicans ought to have,” Toomey said, adding that the Democrats’ control of the government has led to “spending and deficits we have never seen before.”
Results of a Keystone Poll released Thursday show Specter’s party switch has hurt his support among both Republicans and Democrats, with the proportion of state residents who believe he deserves re-election dropping from 40 percent to 28 percent. However, the poll shows he still has a large edge over his likely opponent for the Democratic nomination next year, U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak of suburban Philadelphia.
Toomey said he was running with the hope of regaining one seat for the GOP and creating a balance of sorts between Democrats and Republicans.
Toomey acknowledged that there was a shift in Pennsylvania voting patterns during the Presidential election, with a number of Republicans leaving the party and registering as Democrats.
However, he said he thinks the shift represented an ideological one on the part of Pennsylvania voters, and expects a number of voters to return to the GOP in the next election cycle.
“I think the voters did not make a big ideological lurch to the left,” he said. Instead, he said he feels voters were reacting to dissatisfaction with the Bush administration as well as the excitement created by the Obama campaign.
“At the end of the day, although people voted for a change ... I don’t think they voted for the change they got,” he said, adding that he doesn’t agree with how the Obama administration has handled the recession.
“There’s an old proverb that says: ‘When you’re in a hole, stop digging,” Toomey said, referring to the growing national debt.
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