Philadelphia Daily News (PA)   April 28, 2004 Section: EDITORIAL OPINION Edition: 4STAR Page: 15  ARLEN SPECTER'S FLIP-FLOP ELECTION BUT OTHER INCUMBENTS, SADLY, POST EASY WINS   TO THE VERY few moderate Republicans left in Congress, the message this morning couldn't be clearer:   This could happen to you. Like U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, other Republican moderates could be forced to spend more than $9 million to defeat a hard-right conservative like Pat Toomey, of Allentown.   In an election that rated national attention, the well-funded ideologues who now call the shots in the Republican Party showed what happens to office-holders who don't do as they're told.   It didn't matter to those Republicans that a Specter defeat would jeopardize Republican control of the U.S. Senate or even that it might make it harder for President Bush to be re-elected.   It didn't matter to those Republicans that, when it counts, Specter gives Bush the votes he needs to push through most of the policies that make up the Bush agenda - or that Specter's personal commitment to abortion rights or workers rights doesn't slow down the Bush administration's march to undo them.   So, even though Specter won late last night, Republican moderates as a species are much closer to extinction this morning. In fact, Arlen Specter-as-moderate probably is extinct already.   With Bush credited with pulling Specter across the finish line - and the party contributing big money to his campaign - Specter now owes his soul to the Company Store.   And don't think the bill won't come due should Specter win a fifth term by beating his Democratic opponent, U.S. Rep. Joe Hoeffel, in November.   If Specter gets to be chairman of the Judiciary Committee, it's highly unlikely that the independent streak that showed itself when he voted against Robert Bork will reassert itself.   Sadly, other incumbents had a better night than Specter.   For as long as we can remember, the Democratic primaries for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives found us endorsing dismal, ineffective incumbents. Not by choice, but necessity. The only people worse than the legislators in office were the ones trying to unseat them.   Incumbency not only meant a lock on the primary election - and therefore the office in overwhelmingly Democratic Philadelphia - it usually also meant there were few challengers who exhibited anything resembling qualifications for the job.   To look at last night's election results, it might seem that little has changed. Nearly all state House incumbents - except for Michael Horsey in West Philadelphia, who was defeated by Tommy Blackwell - were re-elected.   But this Democratic primary marked what we see as a hopeful development: There were several qualified, energetic challengers willing to take on the entrenched interests of the party.   Even though they lost, Sheila Ballen, Terry Gillen, Andrew Hohns, Marc Stier and others raised important issues in their communities. Their energy and courage and forced the incumbents to pay more attention to the people whom they are supposed to represent. That can't help but make things better.   We salute them, and urge them to try again. *