Senate races

Republican Sue Lowden has seen her momentum slide after her talk of bartering and paying doctors with chickens.

Joe Sestak compared himself to fellow Democrats Max Cleland and John Kerry in a speech decrying Arlen Specter's use of "swift-boat politics."

"Enough is enough,” Sestak said in a speech Tuesday night in Washington, D.C. "An attack on the honor of a veteran is a dishonor to every veteran, and to do it for the purposes of one's political advantage discredits our great democracy."

Cleland and Kerry faced harsh attacks on their Vietnam War records during campaigns in 2002 and 2004 respectively. Cleland lost his race for a second Senate term after his opponent, now-Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), ran a TV ad that featured images of Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein.

Earlier this month, Specter's campaign launched a TV ad that said Sestak was "relieved of duty in the Navy for creating a poor command climate."

"Arlen Specter's probably a little confused," the congressman said. "He's forgotten, as he said, is he is in the Republican Party or is he in the Democratic Party?

"Don't bring your Republican swift-boat tactics into a party that has abhorred them," he said. "He has a record of doing this."

The Specter campaign insisted that Sestak's Navy record is fair game because he was using it to make the case for his Senate candidacy.

Sestak, a former three-star admiral, insisted he wouldn't go negative on Specter in the final weeks of the Senate primary campaign.

"We will continue to run a very positive campaign. That doesn't mean we're not going to stand up and say, 'this is a baseless attack,'" he said. "It's working because Pennsylvanians are really upset that Washington's broken."

Former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) called Florida Gov. Charlie Crist's (R) decision to run for Senate as an independent "tragic."

Lott was in the Capitol Wednesday and spoke to reporters about reports that the the governor will seek a Senate seat, but not as a Republican.

"I hope it's wrong, I think it would be a tragic mistake," Lott said. "I think he should have withdrawn or seen it through."

The former Mississippi senator echoed the sentiments of many Republicans who had been hoping that Crist would not run for office as an independent.

Some fear that Crist will ciphon away voters from former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio (R), the presumptive nominee should Crist officially announce a non-GOP bid.

Lott said that Crist's made his decision because he was trailing Rubio by large margins.

"It's making a decision based on polls," he said.

Sen. John Cornyn (Texas), chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), said his organization will do everything to help conservative candidate Marco Rubio beat Charlie Crist.

Cornyn said Crist had not yet informed him of his decision to run as an independent candidate for Senate in Florida, but “that appears the direction it’s headed.”

“We don’t support anybody but Republicans in the committee,” Cornyn said of the NRSC. “We will be supporting the Republican and doing everything we can to win.”

Cornyn had initially supported Crist in his Senate primary against Rubio, a former state House speaker.

Later in the day, the Texas senator was asked if he will request that Crist return Republican donations to him. He said "you bet."

Jordan Fabian contributed to this post

This post was updated at 5:48 p.m.

Sen. Arlen Specter's (D-Pa.) campaign says a quote attributed to the senator today, in which he reminisces about his days as a Republican, didn't provide the full picture.

The Allentown Morning Call reported that Specter said this in an interview:

"Well, I probably shouldn't say this. But I have thought from time to time that I might have helped the country more if I'd stayed a Republican."

Specter's campaign just blasted an e-mail that says an important clause was left off the quote, and that it should read as follows:

"Well, I probably shouldn’t say this, but I have thought from time to time that I might have helped the country more if I’d stayed Republican and tried to bring people across the aisle on healthcare. I might have brought a few across the aisle.”

The meaning of the first quote is intact, but the elaboration provided in the full quote provides some important context. The second quote certainly makes it sound less like his pining for the days when he was in the good ole' GOP, and more like he wishes he could have facilitated some bipartisanship in a city that is sorely lacking it.

Update 2:57 p.m.: Morning Call state editor Pete Leffler (who is not the author of the story) responds: "The Morning Call precisely conveyed everything Sen. Specter said in a way not open to interpretation."

An Independent bid would allow the governor to avoid what was predicted to be a humiliating primary defeat against Marco Rubio.

Reports of Ohio Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher's (D) demise appear to be premature.

Through signs of potential trouble in his Tuesday Senate primary with the underfunded Jennifer Brunner, Fisher has opened up a 17-point lead in the latest Quinnipiac poll of the race. He leads the Secretary of State 41-24 after holding just a 33-26 lead in the last Q poll.

Perhaps most notable in Quinnipiac's new numbers is the following: Fisher is leading Brunner 43-24 among women, which is even better than his numbers among men. Without a majority of women, Brunner stands virtually no chance.

Fisher, who had yet to lead by double digits in any other polling on the race, has opened the lead thanks to a $900,000 cable media buy and more than $3 million spent overall. Brunner has spent less than $1 million.

That Fisher has been able to use his large cash advantage to open up a lead on Brunner is not surprising. It would have been more noteworthy if he hadn't been able to do so. Still, the poll is likely to sooth some Democratic worries about Fisher's fate on Tuesday.

He'll be a heavy favorite, but the primary has cost him most of his money. If he wins the primary, the two months of fundraising between May 4 and the end of June will be massive for his campaign's prospects.

Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.), who made pains to distance himself from his Saturday Night Live personae during his 2008 Senate run, will host a fundraiser with several fellow SNL alums in Los Angeles this weekend.

Slated to appear, according to the Star Tribune, are Dan Aykroyd, Dana Carvey and Kevin Nealon. 

A cocktail and dinner reception for big donors will be held before another, less expensive reception. The events will benefit both Franken's 2014 reelection campaign and his leadership PAC.

Franken held a fundraiser in Minneapolis recently featuring a current SNL cast member, Seth Meyers.

Crist is unlikely to continue to run as a Republican; will say whether he'll campaign as an Independent.

Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) will host a fundraiser for Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Sunday in Connecticut.