Reagan vs. Mondale in Pennsylvania

Do you wish for an old style liberal versus conservative fist fight? You've got it in the Pennsylvania Senate race where Republican Pat Toomey will square off against Democrat Joe Sestak. Sestak took out the formidable Arlen Specter, Pennsylvania's longest serving Senator in last Tuesday's primary and will now try to keep the seat in Democratic hands. Ironically, had Specter stayed a Republican he would have almost certainly been defeated by Toomey (he beat him in the 2004 primary by 19,000 votes with the full support of then-President Bush and then-Senator Santorum). Toomey should be the odds-on favorite to win this year in this slightly blue state and Sestak will have to play defense for a while until the ethics scandal of the Obama Adminstration's illegal job offer finally fizzels out. Sestak wholeheartedly voted for the health care package and has been a reliable liberal vote in his three years as a member of the House from a district right outside Philadelphia. He won the seat in 2006 after retiring from the US Navy and will fight an agressive race to win. In the end, I give Toomey a 65% chance of victory in November.