Specter, Toomey trade barbs on Twitter

Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) on Tuesday traded some barbs with his Republican opponent, former Rep. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.)

Specter, the Democratic front-runner in a primary with Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Pa.), and Toomey went back and forth on their stance on Wall St. bailouts. 

The Republican-turned-Democrat Specter lobbed this charge at Toomey:

No surprise Toomey opposes regulation - he wants to leave Wall Street alone. Well I'm not going to leave Toomey alone.

Toomey responded that Specter is, in fact, Wall St. friendly. He cited his vote for the TARP bank bailout legislation in 2008, when Specter was a Republican:

@SenArlenSpecter Only one candidate in this race stood up against Wall St Bailouts and Corporate Welfare - Pat Toomey. http://bit.ly/5YBOie

Specter jabbed back:

Mr. Toomey, your entire career has been in service to Wall Street. You can't run away from that.

Toomey left Congress in 2004 to primary Specter when he was a Republican but lost. Before his career as a lawmaker, Toomey worked as a banker before becoming a small business owner. 

Financial issues should resonate loud in Pennsylvania, a coal-mining state with an unemployment rate close to 9 percent, come November. 

Cross-posted to the Twitter Room