Toomey for Senate

Republican Senate candidate Pat Toomey today accepted a second debate -- followed by a beer summit -- with Democratic Rep. Joe Sestak, D-Delaware County. Sestak had written a letter to Toomey last week asking for a reprise of their September debate on health care, saying he'd been frustrated at the incumbent, Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., and his unwillingness to do more than two debates with him. Specter even turned down a tete-a-tete on Meet the Press that would have drawn nationwide attention.

Toomey's response was released today, saying he'd love to have a debate focused on jobs.

The Republican, who narrowly lost a primary challenge to Specter in 2004, wrote, "Like many politicians who have spent decades in Washington, Sen. Specter maintains a sense of entitlement to his office and he is unwilling to put his record and ideas to the test of open and honest debate." He was cordial torward Sestak, though his reference to "a liberal like you" probably didn't sit well with the second-term Congressman, who doesn't like that label.

Their first debate concluded with the two men hitting an Allentown bar for a drink. Toomey ended today's missive with: "I look forward to it; but this time, you’re buying the beer."

The Specter-free debate serves both men well in their campaigns, as they get to accuse Specter of ducking the competition and they get to show their respective constituencies their contrasting views. Sestak, especially, can show how he'd stack up in a general election campaign -- a major concern of primary-voting Democrats who might see Specter as someone who could best keep the seat in the D column because of his considerable political skills.