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National GOP to Back Specter

By W. James Antle, III on 4.14.09 @ 4:28PM

National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman John Cornyn has thrown his weight behind Sen. Arlen Specter, who is likely to face a tough renomination fight against former Club for Growth President Pat Toomey:

"My job as head of the NRSC is to guide the GOP back to a majority in the Senate," wrote Cornyn to Pennsylvania Republicans. "I can't do that without Arlen Specter. With him as our nominee, I can target our campaign resources toward beating Democrats and growing the Senate Republican Conference."

National Republican support -- especially from President Bush and Sen. Rick Santorum -- was key to Specter's defeat of Toomey in 2004. But since then, the Republican base has gotten smaller and the remaining conservatives may have had their fill of Specter.

View all comments (12) | Leave a comment

Quin| 4.14.09 @ 5:13PM

Not to put too fine a point on it, but Cornyn now should do what Cheney told Leahy to do. In fact, I might just promote this to a new blog post.

jr| 4.14.09 @ 5:17PM

GOP still backing Specter -- sounds about right. Things humming along without interruption while Hussein Obama is busting America. Specter supposed to be doing the work for Pennsylvania. Any coal or steel industry left? Go green Specter, the libs and Demos will continue to love you. What a miserable _____.

Hank| 4.14.09 @ 5:25PM

Open letter to Mr. Cornyn: Please save your paper and postage. Don't bother sending me any more requests for donations. Not another dime.

Red Phillips| 4.14.09 @ 5:32PM

This is outrageous!

GeronL| 4.14.09 @ 5:36PM

Cornyn is a shill. Spectre, Collins and Snowe are all on the wrong side. We need conservatives in the Senate, not Republicans. It'd be better to have Democrats IMO than these fools

AreaMan| 4.14.09 @ 5:39PM

"I can't do that without Arlen Specter. With him as our nominee, I can target our campaign resources toward beating Democrats and growing the Senate Republican Conference."

What you mean is " I am too lazy and or stupid to find a real Republican to beat the Democrat"

Martin| 4.14.09 @ 5:52PM

Cornyn is a GWB stooge -- always has been. We can do much better from Texas, but we let him sneak into reelection in '08. ANYONE can win a Texas Senate seat, let's make sure it's not Cornyn in '14.

This is the kind of thinking that got the GOP thrown out in '06; until we have purged the leadership from top to bottom nothing will improve. We also need to get Iowa OUT of the Presidential nominating process, as it consistently chooses bad candidates and zaps good ones. 6 losers out of the last 6 is a trend, guys.

John| 4.14.09 @ 7:19PM

Tap... Tap... tap... is this thing working... urh... testing... testing...

Good..

Rule number 1 of politics. The match goes to the champ on points. Challengers win by forfeit, KO, or TKO.

Rule number 2 of politics. Political Parties are Election Machines, not ideological stalking horses. They reflect membership, and whatever leadership exists. However, they are not organic entities with lives and principles. Therefore, POWER tends to support POWER. A sitting WINNER is a safer bet than an outsider.

For an example of the power of Central Committees, insiders, and party elites, one need only look to Virginia where the Virginia Republican Central Committee overwhelmingly voted to remove a perfectly fine Chairman. BECAUSE the Chairman was not from POWER, he was from the hoi polloi. He failed to pay tribute (in $$$$) to the right people... He failed to toe the line when told what to do... He failed to be indebted and a client to POWER.

He was subverted from the very minute of his election, and removed for his trouble.

I detest Arlen Spectre... he is all that is wrong with the power-elite in the GOP. Howerver the fact remains that if Toomey wants the seat, he will have to score a KO in the primary fight. POWER will never allow him to eek through on points.

Would Toomey win over any Dem Ham Sandwich nominated in the increasingly Socialist Republic of Pencil-hockey? The POWER of the GOP sees former Senator Santorum and lays its bet on the PASS Line.

That's politics... it won't change, and it has been ever thus.

Props to Toomey if he runs. I hope enough Conservatives work to nominate him. He isn't going to win with wishes...

r/John

Matt| 4.14.09 @ 8:54PM

Toomey runs against Specter again, he'll lose again. The guy's a blowhard hack who ran an awful campaign last time. In the off chance that Toomey does get the Republican nomination, any Democrat running against him will be a shoe-in.

stevie| 4.15.09 @ 2:48PM

Bring on Toomey. He has no chance to win the election. Only a moderate Republican or a Democrat can win the election. The days of the right wing extremists are over.

Jeremiah| 4.15.09 @ 8:49PM

We'll see. Liberal fascists are riding high right now--but the worm will turn. Losers. GO TOOMEY!!

Harry Schell| 4.16.09 @ 3:59PM

This is why the Rep party is going to be functionally extinct within 10 years.

Going along to get along simply delays the point one become's irrelevant, and Snowe, Specter and Collins will find their applause from Dems gone when they are no longer needed.

Nobody likes a traitor unless they are useful...these three will be like used kleenexes when/if Dems really consolidate their hold.