Squash is Sen. Arlen Specter's usual game, but he demonstrated yesterday that he's intent on turning his re-election fight into a Texas cage match.

A day after Pat Toomey officially announced his second bid to capture the Republican nomination for Mr. Specter's seat, the incumbent sharply attacked his challenger, continuing the assault he began weeks before the former congressman entered the race.

During a meeting with Post-Gazette editors, the five-term veteran characterized his challenger as a guaranteed general election loser who was responsible for ills ranging from the loss of Republican control of the Senate to the current economic crisis.

"I've been listening to him for five years," Mr. Specter said of the candidate who fell just short of ousting him in the 2004 primary. "He's sore as hell. ... I'm firing back."

Mr. Specter acknowledged that his bid for a record sixth term would be a severe test, and he said his chief tactical priority would be to define Mr. Toomey to Pennsylvania's voters. To that end, he said that Mr. Toomey was virtually unelectable, noting that his voting record, according to the scorecard of the American Conservative Union, was to the right of former Sen. Rick Santorum, who lost in a landslide in 2006.