Santorum's Specter Problem
January 1, 2012 | 5:27 PM
Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum's newfound popularity brings with it not only rising poll numbers but increasing scrutiny of his decades-long tenure in the public eye. And few blemishes jeopardize his standing with conservative voters more than the former Pennsylvania senator's 2004 endorsement of Arlen Specter.
At the time, Specter was a U.S. senator from Pennsylvania trying to fend off a fierce primary challenge from conservative GOP Rep. Pat Toomey. Coupled with the support of President George W. Bush, Specter rallied to win with just 50.8 percent of the vote, fewer than 20,000 votes more than Toomey.
The endorsement infuriated the state's conservative activists, and the hard feelings persisted two years later when Santorum desperately and fruitlessly tried to hold off a challenge to his Senate seat by Democrat Bob Casey. (He lost the race by nearly 20 percentage points.) The grassroots supporters did little to help him then, and, indeed, many of them to this day regard him as a member of a Republican political establishment who isn't sufficiently committed to conservative principles.
And as much as the endorsement rankled eight years ago, it looks even worse now. Specter, of course, was a decisive vote in favor of President Obama's economic stimulus in 2009, and soon thereafter, switched to the Democratic Party. The following year, Specter lost the Democratic primary to Rep. Joe Sestak, and Toomey went on to win Specter's seat by defeating Sestak in the general election that year. Toomey quickly became popular in both the party's activist and establishment wings.
Santorum's support of Specter in 2004 weakens his argument that he's a "conviction conservative," someone who puts principle ahead of politics. Specter, one of the last true moderates in the Senate, was reviled by conservatives, but he was a lock to win in the general election. Supporting him was a political calculation: Specter had a much better chance than Toomey to win in a general election, even if he was less likely to back conservative causes once re-elected.
There is a twist to the story, however. Perhaps mindful he was preparing a run for president, Santorum started saying a few years ago he backed Specter only because Specter promised to support conservative nominees for the Supreme Court. That became a contentious issue in Specter's 2010 campaign against Sestak, with the longtime incumbent denying he ever cut such a deal. Santorum points to the fact Specter did, in fact, vote to confirm two of Bush's nominees, John Roberts and Samuel Alito, to the high court.
Either way, it's not a story that will soon go away for Santorum as he continues to make headway in the GOP primary, as much as he might want it to.
Join the Discussion
The National Journal Group has the right (but not the obligation) to monitor the comments and to remove any materials it deems inappropriate.
Comments powered by Disqus