Thread: Angry voters hammer establishment candidates

Angry voters hammer establishment candidates

By: Susan Ferrechio
Chief Congressional Correspondent
May 18, 2010

Prepare for the wrath of the angry voter.

That's what all signs point to in Tuesday's hotly contested Senate primaries in Pennsylvania, Arkansas and Kentucky, where public backlash against Washington could doom incumbents and politically connected candidates, regardless of their party affiliation.

"It's less certain what voters are actually for, but clearly they are not happy with the status quo," said Scott Lasley, a political science professor at Western Kentucky University.

In Kentucky, Republicans are feeling the backlash, with the GOP's anointed Senate candidate, Trey Grayson, projected to get a thrashing by Tea Party-backed candidate Rand Paul.

Grayson has the endorsement of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, as well as former Vice President Cheney. But those endorsements are proving no match for Paul's grass-roots, anti-Washington bid, backed by former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

"The Republican Party in this state is getting stood on its head," longtime Kentucky Democratic political consultant Dale Emmons said.

Perhaps the most endangered incumbent is Sen. Arlen Specter, who is running even with Rep. Joe Sestak in the Pennsylvania Democratic Senate primary despite party backing and campaign ads starring President Obama.

Sestak, who Democratic officials once predicted would barely crack double-digit support in the polls, is now poised to win in part because voters are disgusted with Specter's switch from Republican to Democrat, especially since he admitted he was making the move to avoid losing his bid for a sixth term.

Sestak has portrayed himself an outsider, despite his nearly four years in Congress representing the state's 7th District outside Philadelphia.

"Arlen Specter is the ultimate poster child for long term, inside-the-Beltway, Washington politics," said Chris Borick, associate professor of political science at Pennsylvania's Muhlenberg College.

Voter discontent is also dominating the Democratic Senate primary in Arkansas, where incumbent Blanche Lincoln has a long and difficult road ahead of her to win election to a third term, despite help from the Obama and the Democratic establishment.

She must first prevail in a three-way primary on Tuesday. While Lincoln is leading in the polls, there is a significant possibility that she will not win the 50 percent needed to avoid a runoff. And she is already trailing Rep. John Boozman, the likely Republican nominee, in polls.

Lincoln's top Democratic challenger is Arkansas Lt. Gov. Bill Halter with Lincoln touting her populist proposal to regulate derivative trading and Halter emphasizing Lincoln's decision to move her family to Washington.

"Both of these candidates are really kind of competing for the populist mantle in terms of who is fighting for the people and who is the true Arkansan," said University of Arkansas political science professor Andrew Dowdle.

sferrechio@washingtonexaminer.com


http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/polit ... z0oJJmrHpN

here are the numbers from Specter/Sestak
Look at how they change the later the evening goes


http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-199663.html

Tea Party Favorite Rand Paul Wins Senate GOP Primary in Kentucky

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/05 ... -kentucky/