Or, "Be Careful What You Wish For -- You Might Get It."
It seems to be an article of faith in progressive circles that the Dems should root for wingnut Pat Toomey to knock off the relatively sane Arlen Specter in the PA GOP primary -- the idea being that Toomey would be an easier general election foe for Joe Hoeffel than Specter, who has survived a couple of tough challenges. Well, if we're hoping for a Toomey win, we should be pretty excited --
Specter's numbers are lousy,
Toomey's raising a bunch of cash, and it's starting to look like an obscure ultraconservative has a real good shot to do something the Dems have been unable to do: beat Arlen Specter.
But here's the big question: are Hoeffel's chances against Toomey
so much better than his chances against Specter that we're willing to take the chance of seeing a Senator Toomey? Because it's by no means certain that Hoeffel will beat Toomey. PA is a state, after all, that has
twice elected extremist Rick Santorum to the Senate. And the prospect of a Senator Toomey is scary.
Toomey is:
wildly anti-choice;
a yahoo on most of the other hot-button social issues;
a devoted foe of progressive taxation -- he was a sponsor of the elimination of the estate tax, and as such, is one of the worst class warriors out there.
That's just a sampling of Toomey's sins. There are plenty more, such as his support of a ban on "salting," one of the most important tools construction unions have to organize workers. For all of his many faults, Arlen Specter is a beacon of light compared to Pat Toomey.
There's no question that we need to work for Joe Hoeffel so that PA can get the Democratic Senator it deserves. But we may want to question whether we really should be hoping for Specter to lose to Toomey in the primary. If Specter beats Hoeffel in November, it'll be lousy -- but if Toomey beats Hoeffel, Pennsylania will have two Santorums. So be careful what you wish for -- you might just get it.