also endorsed Specter, focusing more on the fact that Specter stood the best chance of defeating Toomey in a general election challenge. The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, however, endorsed Sestak, calling him "incredibly intelligent, thoughtful and articular" while condemning Specter as a "self-serving political ferret" for switching parties. Actor Michael J. Fox, who suffers from Parkinson's disease, appeared in a television advertisement for Specter, praising the Senator for his long-standing support of stem cell research. Fox said, "In the fight against disease, you can look back or move forward. Arlen Specter is moving forward." President Obama sent e-mail messages to his Organizing for America supporters encouraging them to vote for Specter, However, despite his long position of support for Specter, Obama did not fly to Pennsylvania to actively campaign for the Senator during the campaign's final days. As the campaign entered its final week, polls showed Specter and Sestak at a dead heat, with different surveys reporting contradictory findings over which candidate maintained a slight edge. A Quinnipiac University poll found Specter leading 44–42 percent, with fourteen percent undecided. A Franklin & Marshall poll found Sestak ahead 38–36 percent, with about a quarter of voters undecided. In both cases, the lead fell within the survey's margin of error. G. Terry Madonna, director of the Franklin & Marshall poll, said that Sestak improved because his television commercials were resonating with voters on three fronts: the arguments that Specter switched parties for solely political reasons, that he consistently voted for Republican policies and that he had been in office too long. Polling Results Sestak won the May 18 primary with 53.8 percent of the vote, or 568,563 of the votes cast, compared to 46.2 percent and 487,217 votes for Specter. The defeat led to the end of Specter's nearly 30-year Senate career, the longest of any Pennsylvania Senator in history. Afterward, Sestak declared, "This is what democracy should look like: a win for the people over the establishment. It should come as no surprise to anyone that people want a change." Specter conceded defeat and said, "It's been a great privilege to serve the people of Pennsylvania. It's been a great privilege to be in the United States Senate." Commentators suggested Specter's defeat signaled an electorate unsatisfied with the establishment in both major parties, and indicated that the backing of prominent politicians had little effect on voters during this political age. Sestak's victory was