The similarities and differences between large-scale party politics and the debate closer to home are not always obvious — but sometimes they rise to the surface.

On Saturday, the Pennsylvania Democratic State Committee voted to endorse incumbent Senator Arlen Specter over Congressman Joe Sestak in the Democratic primary for the 2010 U.S. Senate election.

More than two thirds of the committee voted for Specter over Sestak, who has represented the state’s seventh congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2007. The vote came in spite of the fact that prior to April 2009, Specter served as a long-time Republican.

At Penn, however, the difference in support for the two candidates is less apparent.

Penn Democrats President and College sophomore Emma Ellman-Golan said regardless of the committee’s choice, the Penn Dems will still not endorse a candidate until after the primaries in May.

Ellman-Golan explained that both Specter and Sestak have strong movements of their own on campus, and the Penn Dems do not want to impair the efforts of either group.

In the past, the Penn Dems have not held back in endorsing candidates. Ellman-Golan said the 2008 endorsement of Barack Obama over Hillary Clinton caused cracks in the group that are still being fixed today.

Such inter-party tensions are not restricted to the University’s Democrats. College senior Cameron Clark, the Penn campus coordinator for the Sestak campaign, said the committee’s choice of Specter is indicative of the Democratic party losing touch with its base.

Clark said he believes the endorsement was a mistake, but one they were destined to make from the beginning. He called it the “safe call.”

College freshman Graham White, campus coordinator for the Specter campaign, said the committee’s choice was in the best interest of the party. He said Specter has the best chance of beating a Republican candidate come election time.

Clark also said he was wary of the race against Republican frontrunner, Congressman Pat Toomey. However, he said this anxiety is more a result of the party losing touch with its constituency.

But he believes there is still hope for Democrats. “There’s still time to correct it, but right now [the party is] in shambles,” he said.