Since jumping over to the Democrat side of the aisle, Senator Arlen Specter’s, D-Pa., numbers are taking a nose dive according to the Philadelphia Daily News:
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The strong backing of Democratic Party leaders has done little to change slumping public support for the party’s newest convert, U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter. Only 28 percent of all those surveyed say that he deserves re-election, according to the latest Keystone Poll, and double that number say it’s time for a change.
Specter’s party switch, announced April 28, has hurt his job-performance ratings among Democrats as well as Republicans, according to a telephone survey of 498 registered voters, conducted last week by the Center for Opinion Research at Franklin & Marshall College.
Back in March, before the switch, roughly half the voters in each party said that Specter was doing an “excellent” or “good” job in the Senate.
Those numbers have plunged in the latest survey. Whereas 57 percent of Democrats gave him good or excellent ratings in March, only 46 percent rate him as highly now. Among Republicans, 49 percent rated his job performance as good or excellent in March, and only 18 percent gave him those ratings last week.
While 43 percent of Democrats are saying Mr. Specter deserves re-election(up from 2 percent in March) he must still win over Republicans and Independents. Only 11 percent of Republicans and 24 percent of Independents said they are supporting Mr. Specter’s re-election. Senator Specter needs support of GOP’ers who are already edgy about Democrats having a filibuster-proof 60 seat majority. As former chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Mr. Specter should very well recall that filibusters of Bush judicial nominees are not something Republicans have forgotten. Moreover, giving Democrats this kind of majority in the Senate, after being among three GOP Senators to vote for the bailout, has continued to leave a sour taste in Republicans’ mouths. Good luck in cleaning those palates, Senator.
