If that’s it, why did it take so long?

That was the question asked by GOP U.S. Senate nominee Pat Toomey hours after Joe Sestak and White House finally revealed Friday what happened when Bill Clinton called the congressman to see if he’d drop out of his race against Arlen Specter in exchange for an unpaid position on a White House advisroy board.

“If this explanation is as innocent as it looks, I sure don’t know why it took three months to say so,” Toomey said in a statement. “The White House and Congressman Sestak should have been forthcoming a lot sooner.”

Toomey said several times earlier this week that both sides needed to come clean and reveal exactly what happened but was also quick to point out he thought the  issue was of far less importance to the race than discussing each man’s policy positions. He reiterated that sentiment Friday

“As I’ve said many times, this job offer issue is not my focus, and it’s not where Pennsylvanians want the focus of the campaign to be,” Toomey said.

The former Lehigh Valley congressman is trying to frame his battle against Sestak as strictly a battle of ideology, banking on the fact the majority of Pennsylvania voters oppose many of the iniatives Joe Sestak supported in the last two years, such as “cap-and-trade,” bailouts, and health care reform.

“As far as I’m concerned, I would rather pursue those topics than any insider deal between Congressman Sestak and the White House,” Toomey said.

The state Republican Party, meanwhile, is asking that an independent agency investigate the controversy. It added that Sestak’s refusal to talk about the deal, if not the deal itself, proves he is a “Washington insider.”

“Joe Sestak’s refusal to comment on this issue until the White House released their carefully concocted statement, proves that Joe Sestak is now officially the same kind of Washington “insider” he claimed to be fighting against,” said party spokesman Mike Barley. “Why did Joe Sestak wait for the White House to release a statement before commenting further on this matter? Will Joe Sestak always wait to hear from President Obama and the Democrat establishment before acting?”