By Alex Roarty
Republican Congressional candidate Melissa Hart disputed that her opponent, U.S. Rep. Jason Altmire (D-McCandless), defected from his party when he voted Monday against a $700 billion bailout plan.
"Not really," she told PolitickerPA.com. "I think what you saw was a whole bunch of vulnerable freshman voting against it."
Ninety-five Democrats voted against the plan, which was defeated 228-205. One-hundred-and-forty Democrats voted in favor of the bill.
Hart, who lost to Altmire in 2006 by 4 percentage points, is trying to unseat the first-time incumbent in one of the state's most competitive races.
The candidate said she thinks Congress moved too quickly to intervene in the market. She prefers lawmakers give a little more time to allow the market to take care of itself.
She did say, however, if signs of total financial collapse began appearing, she would support a bailout.
"Obviously if we're in a position where there will be significant failures, we'll have to step in," she said.