Papers Back Specter As Third Party Candidate Gains Steam

But Specter has seen his lead in the race dwindle as he faces a strong challenge from U.S. Rep. Joe Hoeffel and a relative unknown conservative attorney from Lancaster, Pa.

Specter, known as a moderate in the upper house, but who has supported many of President Bush’s policies on tax cuts and the war in Iraq, has drawn fire from the left and right, a fact he says indicates he is doing something right, but that has cut into his once double-digit lead in the polls.

According to a Keystone poll released earlier in October, Specter’s once 26-point lead in the race had evaporated to 9 percent — 44 percent for the Republican, 35 percent for Democrat Hoeffel and 7 percent for Constitution Party candidate Jim Clymer.

Clymer, an attorney from the conservative south-central part of the state, has seen his support steadily grow after what analysts said were strong performances in two televised debates.

In one, by luck of the draw, Clymer was asked the first question and used it as a pitch for why he was running against Hoeffel and Specter.

“As I am the only conservative candidate in this race for the Senate, Pennsylvania voters have a unique opportunity this fall to send a conservative message” to Washington, D.C., Clymer said.

Clymer’s candidacy illustrates the problem Specter has had with conservative voters in the state. In March, the four-term senator barely survived a primary challenge from a conservative congressman. Now, Clymer, who campaigns for a limited federal government as outlined in the Constitution, opposes abortion, gun control and gay marriage, but supports free trade and limited regulation of business.

“I’m convinced that more than 50 percent of people in this state do not agree with the positions of either Specter or Hoeffel,” he told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review recently.

Despite Clymer’s growing support and Hoeffel’s efforts to solidify his support among Democrats by tying his candidacy to presidential candidate John Kerry, this week several of the state’s top newspapers endorsed Specter for a fifth term.

The Philadelphia Inquirer, the Harrisburg Patriot-News, the Allentown Morning Call and the Erie Times-News all backed the state’s senior senator, a fact Specter hailed in a press release on Oct. 18.

But many of the endorsements spoke as highly of Hoeffel as they did of Specter, relying on the Republican’s influence in Washington more than his leadership to earn the papers’ backing.

“We do believe Specter has earned an unprecedented fifth term. But it was a close call made difficult by Specter’s Democratic challenger, Montgomery County Congressman Joe Hoeffel,” the Erie paper editorialized. “Hoeffel is Specter’s most impressive and credible opponent since the Philadelphia Republican first won his Senate seat in 1980. Hoeffel offers a sensible, moderate voice that is comparable to Specter’s. We were impressed.”

Harrisburg’s paper also offered Specter a lukewarm thumbs up.

“The most contentious part of our interview with Arlen Specter last week followed a question about the Republican senator’s reputation for changing positions to suit the politics of the moment. When have I done that? Specter retorted, demanding specifics,” the Patriot-News editorial read “Like it or not, in his 24 years of representing Pennsylvania in the U.S. Senate, Specter has become best known for, as Democrat Joe Hoeffel puts it, a ‘propensity to have it both ways.’ But when it comes time to vote, when the vote really matters, Specter most often casts his according to his own beliefs, not his party’s, and most often, in our view, in accord with the best interests of his home state.”

The Philadelphia Inquirer made a more clear case for Specter in its Oct. 17 endorsement.

“Arlen Specter has become a force to be reckoned with in the U.S. Senate,” the editorial read. “His 24 years have made him the longest-serving Pennsylvanian ever to hold the job. Specter is an important Republican voice advocating more federal dollars for hunger relief, education and mass transit. As a swing vote whose support is continually sought by both parties, he has built up the clout and seniority to ensure that Pennsylvania receives its fair share of federal spending.”

The Inquirer went on to question whether Hoeffel, who represents suburban Philadelphia in the House, could similarly deliver.

“Hoeffel would be a solid ally for a Kerry administration, but there is little in his record to indicate he would become a major player for Pennsylvania in the Senate,” the paper wrote.

The qualified endorsements prompted at least one reader to question why their paper was endorsing Specter.

“How can The Inquirer endorse Specter on the hope that he might break with his recent statements and behavior when Rep. Joe Hoeffel is already everything we are looking for?” Ethan Mooar wrote to the Philadelphia paper. “We need a moderate Democrat to give some semblance of balance to our Senate delegation,” referring to the junior senator, conservative Rick Santorum.

It is that sentiment, coupled by a possible strong showing by Senator Kerry that has prompted analysts like G. Terry Madonna of Franklin and Marshall College to give Hoeffel an “outside chance” of knocking off the state’s senior Republican.