The Eye

The Club would use the donor lists that Specter's campaign has filed with the FEC. Those documents include contributors' addresses.

A letter "would include a preprinted form letter and envelope that would allow the donor to request a refund," the Club said in asking the FEC for an advisory opinion. A phone call "would inform the donor that Sen. Specter has switched to the Democratic Party and inform the donor of his refund policy. We would then ask if the donor would like us to mail him or her information on how to request the refund or provide information on how to request a refund during the telephone call."

The Club says that its communications to Specter donors "would not contain any solicitation of any kind" for its group or any candidate or entity.

The Club has a strong interest in draining Specter's treasury. The group actively opposed Specter in his 2004 Senate primary against then-Rep. Pat Toomey, a conservative who became the Club's president after his narrow loss to Specter. Toomey resigned that post early this year to prepare for a 2010 Republican Senate primary that he thought would be a rematch, but Specter announced his party switch in late April after concluding he could not beat Toomey in a GOP primary.

Toomey now is heavily favored to win the Republican primary, while Specter faces the prospect of a competitive Democratic primary against Rep. Joe Sestak.