Toomey stresses economy as he begins tour of Pennsylvania

TAMAQUA, Pa. - Republican Senate candidate Pat Toomey rolled into town in an RV wallpapered with his campaign posters, on the first day of a four-day tour through 21 counties to argue that wrongheaded Democratic economic policies have failed to lift Main Street out of recession.

"I definitely want to see some changes, some new people in office," Todd Miller, owner of M&S True Value Hardware on Broad Street, said when Toomey asked him how business was.

Earlier, in a speech to the Pennsylvania Press Club in Harrisburg, Toomey noted that the state had lost 71,700 jobs since the $787 billion federal stimulus was approved in early 2009. That bill was supposed to reduce the national unemployment rate to below 8 percent, he said.

"Where is the recovery?" Toomey asked.

He said the Obama administration and congressional Democrats such as his opponent, Rep. Joe Sestak, had added trillions to the national debt with stimulus spending and bailouts of banks and auto companies.

"Too many of them have no experience at all in business," said Toomey, whose four-day tour does not include Southeastern Pennsylvania. "Too many in Washington are career politicians that have no appreciation for the damage they're inflicting on our economy with this misguided policy."

As he walked around downtown Tamaqua, northwest of Allentown, in Schuylkill County, with a group of supporters, several protesters trailed behind, asking whether Toomey still supported privatization of Social Security. State Democrats said they would shadow Toomey's stops around the state, arguing that his career has been devoted to the interests of Wall Street - first as a derivatives trader and later as a member of the U.S. House and president of the laissez-faire Club for Growth advocacy group.

Protesters met his RV in Harrisburg with a huge green "Wall Street" road sign.

On Tuesday, Republican former Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska will endorse Sestak at separate news conferences in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. Hagel often defied the GOP leadership during his two terms in the Senate, declining, for instance, to endorse Arizona Sen. John McCain in the 2008 presidential race and quietly backing Democrat Barack Obama.

Sestak's campaign portrayed Hagel's support as a marker of independence. Last week, Sestak was embraced by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a Republican-turned-independent.

Independents are crucial in Pennsylvania's Senate contest, one of the most closely watched in the nation, and recent polls have found Toomey leading among these voters. Republicans have been aggressive in arguing that Sestak is anything but independent, calling him a reliable vote for the expensive and expansionist agendas of President Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Sestak and Hagel also have military backgrounds in common. Hagel is a highly decorated Army combat veteran of Vietnam and Sestak served in the Navy for 31 years, rising to the rank of vice admiral.

"I think he is the guy I most admired in the Senate," Sestak said of Hagel at a forum earlier this month.

The admiration is mutual. Hagel, speaking about Sestak, told the Associated Press: "I think he is what the Senate needs more of - courageous, independent thinking."