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IN
Pa.
endorsements,
parties call for unity
By
Carrie Budoff
Inquirer Staff Writer
HARRISBURG
- Democratic
and Republican state leaders urged unity yesterday at their
endorsement meetings for the 2004 elections, but neither
party could avert potentially divisive primaries for state
offices set for April.
Republican
U.S.
Sen.
Arlen Specter secured his party's endorsement for a fifth
term, but he will still face a primary challenge from U.S.
Rep. Patrick Toomey (R., Lehigh).
The
race for state attorney general will be contested in both
parties, as two Republicans and four Democrats said they
would take their campaigns through to the April 27 primary.
Held
at separate
Harrisburg
hotels,
the meetings were used as pep rallies for this year's
elections for president, U.S. Senate, and three statewide
row offices - attorney general, auditor general and
treasurer.
President
Bush's top political adviser, Karl Rove, spoke at a
fund-raiser Friday night, boasting about his boss' record
and imploring the more than 600 Republicans to work hard to
reelect the President.
"This
is going to be a tough, hard-fought election and this state,
the
Commonwealth
of
Pennsylvania
, is going
to be right in the middle of it," Rove said at the
sold-out, $60-a-plate dinner.
Gov.
Rendell declared the Democratic Party was well-positioned
and stronger than ever after winning three out of four
statewide races last year.
"The
Democratic Party is back," he said.
Rendell
tested his own political strength by persuading the party to
adopt a rule change that will effectively mean fewer
Democratic endorsements and more primaries. He made a
personal plea for the change, which requires candidates to
reach a higher bar to secure the endorsement - two-thirds of
the committee vote, rather than a simple majority.
Rendell
told the standing-room-only crowd he was personally hurt in
2002 when the party chose not to endorse him for governor
over Auditor General Robert P. Casey Jr. The party should
have stayed neutral, Rendell said, given the strength of the
candidates, as well as his fund-raising and service to
Democrats over the years.
"I
can't tell you how hurtful that was," Rendell said at
the Harrisburg Marriott. "The Democratic Party should
have said, 'We have two great candidates, and we are not
going to pick one over the other.' "
Rendell
initially advocated eliminating endorsements altogether. But
he struck the two-thirds compromise with committee leaders,
who were reluctant to give up one of their main functions.
The
rule change had an immediate impact: None of the four
candidates for attorney general could clinch the
endorsement.
Jim
Eisenhower, who was the party's unsuccessful candidate in
2000, picked up the most votes, but not the two-thirds
necessary. Eisenhower, a former Justice Department
prosecutor from
Philadelphia
and the
chairman of the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and
Delinquency, said he would now focus on the primary, where
he could meet as many as three challengers.
David
M. Barasch, the former
U.S.
attorney
from
Dauphin
County
,
picked up the second-largest number of votes. He said he
would put up a primary challenge, along with Lawrence County
District Attorney Matthew T. Mangino and Northampton County
District Attorney John Morganelli.
The
Republican message was simple: Elect President Bush and stay
unified. The party faces at least two primaries, for the
U.S. Senate and attorney general, an unusual circumstance
for a party that prides itself on its unity.
"We
may not let that distract and impede us from making the
state a red state for George W. Bush," said Alan Novak,
the state party chairman, referring to the color-labeling of
states that vote majority Republican.
The
party unanimously endorsed Bush for a second term.
The
only overt sign of opposition to Specter was a small chorus
of nays when Novak asked for a voice vote on his
endorsement. Toomey decided last week to skip the meeting,
acknowledging that he did not have enough votes to win the
endorsement.
"Let's
face it, this is a process dominated by party leadership
aligned with Specter," Toomey said Friday afternoon
before a private reception at the Harrisburg Hilton for his
supporters.
He
left the hotel before the bulk of the committee arrived for
the evening fund-raiser with Rove. Toomey spent yesterday
off the campaign trail, traveling to
Massachusetts
to pick
up his twin-engine Seneca plane, which was under repair for
mechanical problems.
Specter,
with his wife, Joan, at his side, thanked the party
"from the bottom of my heart" for the endorsement.
"I will see to it that
Pennsylvania
gets its
fair share," he said. "I will do everything in my
power to see that George Bush is reelected.
"It
is very gratifying to have such a strong showing of
support," Specter said.
For
attorney general, Republican Tom Corbett, a former
U.S.
attorney
from
Allegheny
County
, won the
endorsement, but he will not avoid a primary challenge from
Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce Castor. Castor
pulled out of the endorsement race last week, saying the
process was flawed. He said yesterday that he would take his
case to the voters. Joe Peters, a former prosecutor and
Scranton
police
officer, took the Republican endorsement for auditor general
without a fight.
Peters
will face State Sen. Jack Wagner (D., Allegheny), who
clinched the endorsement Friday when State Rep. Jennifer
Mann (D., Lehigh) dropped out of the race.
For
the U.S. Senate, the Democrats endorsed U.S. Rep. Joseph M.
Hoeffel of
Montgomery
County
. He ran
unopposed.
Casey,
who is prohibited from seeking a third term because of term
limits, faced no opposition for state treasurer endorsement.
In November, he willmeet Jean Craige Pepper, a financial
adviser from
Erie
, who took
the Republican endorsement without a challenge.
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