My Aisling

Toomey v. Specter

Campaigns with a single debate are actually debate-less. So much time is taken up spewing forth the canned material, the zingers and gotchas, that you never get to the real issues. So impressions are all with which you are left.

For newspaper accounts, see the UK Guardian and the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

The issues are more a balance rather than a win for either.

Did Specter convince anyone that he is a conservative, by saying it over and over and over again? Drift down this page to read his allegiance to the party - his 2003 rating of 83% is wildly out of character for him. Reflective of a man running for re-election rather than one expressing his core values.

Toomey rates consistently above the 90% mark. And note his allegiance to the president's programs.

Whom is factually the conservative is not in question. Let's put aside the reality that people believe what they see on television.

The legitimate balance to weigh against Specter's inability to be a true republican is the power he has amassed through sheer longevity. His seats on the Appropriations and Judiciary committees are valuable to Pennsylvania.

So the question becomes whether Toomey was able to show how we can do without him? Unfortunately, the issue was not addressed, and fairly, could not have been.

The age difference is another perception issue - 74 versus 42. Specter will be 80, just a few weeks shy of 81 if he serves another term. The real issue on age is to start to build seniority while we have the Senate. Don't wait until the inevitable change occurs 6 or more years down the road.

Santorum and W are merely giving him his honor due for long government service when they campaign for him. They know his voting record better than all of us.

I feel strongly that Specter is excess baggage and that in our present strength now is the time to jettison him.

Toomey needs to break the bank on ads. That is the only thing that reaches the masses in this Commonwealth. Debates, particularly a one-up debate, don't reach them.