Atrios has been running an ad for Joe Hoeffel, the Pennsylvania Democrat who's running against Sen. Arlen "my client Ira Einhorn poses no flight risk" Specter in November.
As Atrios points out, Specter is facing a well-funded primary challenge from the very conservative Pat Toomey, which could leave him vulnerable in the general election.
I feel some personal responsibility here. I lived in Ardmore, in what was then the 13th District, for many years and regularly volunteered as a doorbell-ringer, phone-bank caller and van driver. Decisions in the 13th often came down to fewer than 500 votes — sometimes fewer than 100 votes — so it was an exciting district in which to be involved. Exciting, but also disappointing when a weasel like Jon Fox edged out former Rep. Marjorie Margolies-Mezvinsky.
In the first Hoeffel campaign I spent election day distributing GOTV literature door-to-door. They sent me to the Big Houses section of Narberth — the kind of neighborhood where there might be only six houses on a block and they were all way back from the street. It was a looong, cold day, and when I finally called it quits around 6:30 — half-an-hour before polls closed, I had distributed all but 92 of the doorhanger leaflets I had been given.
Hoeffel lost that election by 84 votes.
I realize, of course, that these leaflets do not translate one-to-one into votes, but still. 92 leaflets. 84 votes. I felt personally responsible. By the next election I had moved out of Ardmore and didn't volunteer in the 13th District at all. Hoeffel won handily.
Pennsylvania Republicans did their best to redistrict Hoeffel out of a job in 2002, but he successfully defended his newly configured seat against the odious campaign of racist ophthalmologist Melissa Brown.
The bottom line here is that Joe Hoeffel is good people and he's got a real shot at replacing one of the most entrenched and arrogant, and least principled, members of the Senate. That's worth supporting.
Ed. P.S.: Oops. Make that "racist ophthalmologist."
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