Specter is distancing himself frum Bush, even though he concedes Bush got him the nomination:
After wrapping himself in President Bush’s coat-tails for months to narrowly win the Republican Senate primary on Tuesday, U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., flew a new banner yesterday, emphasizing issues that divide him and Bush.
To squeak to his 16,000-vote victory over U.S. Rep. Pat Toomey, R-Allentown, Specter’s campaign used Bush’s image and voice in radio and TV ads and recorded phone messages to voters.
Specter told conservative Bush fans that the president said a vote for Specter was a vote for Bush.
Specter even conceded yesterday that Bush’s role in the primary, which attracted mostly conservative Bush supporters, was “determinative,” helping him clinch a 528,543-to-511,864-vote, or 51 percent to 49 percent, victory.