-
Give Peace a Chance
February 8, 2012 | 9 comments
-
Jennifer Rubin to Endorse Santorum, Reject Romney?
February 7, 2012 | 50 comments
-
Fox: Trump for Romney
February 2, 2012 | 6 comments
-
Trump to Endorse -- Or Enter Race?
February 1, 2012 | 28 comments
-
The Fractious Rich Lowry and Jennifer Rubin
February 1, 2012 | 41 comments
The Spectacle Blog
The push is on in the leadership circles of the Pennsylvania GOP to get former Governor and Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge to run for the U.S. Senate against ex-Congressman Pat Toomey.
State GOP chairman Robert Gleason says Ridge is his first choice to be the GOP nominee against Specter. Even Utah Senator Orrin Hatch, a Pittsburgh native, is getting into the act saying of the conservative Toomey: "I don't think there is anybody in the world who believes he could get elected senator there."
The desperation of the anti-Toomey forces is apparent in the media as well. Columns of newsprint are being filled picking up the Specter argument that the Pennsylvania GOP is somehow filled with foaming right-wingers. Should Ridge take a pass on the race, it is suggested that the two moderate front-runners for the GOP gubernatorial nomination settle the matter with one, either Attorney General Tom Corbett or former US attorney Pat Meehan, run for governor while the other takes on Toomey in the Senate race.
Ridge has not been on the ballot in the state since his successful re-election race for governor in 1998. His departure from the governorship was unique in state history. In the immediate aftermath of 9/11 President Bush decided to create a White House office of Homeland Security, persuading Ridge to resign the governor's office to take the job. In what was one of the most memorable scenes in state history, a swearing-in of Ridge's lieutenant governor as the new state chief executive was hastily arranged for the state capitol steps. With the entire country shaken over the events, everyone in the state was acutely aware one of the hijacked planes had been forced down in Somerset County, just to the east of Pittsburgh. The street accesses to the state capitol were physically sealed with huge Pennsylvania Department of Transportation dump trucks and buses blocking traffic. National guard helicopters buzzed overhead, and state police sharpshooters were perched on the roof of the capitol complex. The new governor sworn in, Ridge departed to thunderous applause from a teary-eyed crowd clearly viewing the Vietnam vet as the local hero being summoned to help fight the bad guys. His state trooper bodyguards yielded to U.S. Secret Service agents and Ridge disappeared into a small motorcade of black SUVs, literally Washington bound that instant.
Will all this re-surface to propel him to a Senate win over Toomey and then Specter? In the end, he went on to be the first Secretary of the newly upgraded Cabinet Department of Homeland Security, a job in which he picked up the usual critics for his performance. When his name surfaced as a potential running mate for GOP nominee John McCain in 2008, the suggestion drew sniping from Pennsylvania conservatives who focused on his pro-choice views.
You would think the primary is this May, instead of a year from May. Stay tuned. Chaos reins in the Pennsylvania GOP.
View all comments (17) | Leave a comment
Leave a Comment
More Blog Posts by Jeffrey Lord
http://spectator.org/blog/2009/04/30/ridge-pushed-for-specter-seat
Follow us:
ADVERTISEMENT
Current Issue
- Barney Shuffles Off
- Evolve or Die
- Who's Really Conservative?
- Digital Subscription (Save 78%)
- Buy a single issue (Save 50%)
- Send Spectator as a gift
Clip of the Day
ADVERTISEMENT
Blog Goliard| 4.30.09 @ 11:43AM
First they said we had to back Specter, because he was the only one who could win that seat in this climate.
Now they want Ridge, because he's the only one who could win that seat in this climate.
No wonder they keep offering such advice. It worked out so well last year, when we nominated the only Republican who could have won the Presidency in that climate.
Oh, wait.
Maybe nominating "moderates" who drive conservatives crazy is not always and everywhere the best strategy? Either for winning elections...or for it being worth having won.
Blog Goliard| 4.30.09 @ 11:45AM
(See also Reagan vs. Ford, 1976. This is a very old story. The lessons of which some people still steadfastly refuse to learn.)
Dan D| 4.30.09 @ 12:05PM
Toomey has a challenge, he has to immediately and completely revamp his campaign and message. He is being painted my the media and the PA GOP hacks as some kind of ultraconservative, just-say-no kind of guy.
He needs to be the sunniest guy in the state, making positive arguments for fixing the economy and financial markets, easing people's access to health care, and specific pro-freedom, pro-growth policies. He can let Peg Luksik do her thing, and not try to outshout her on pro-life issues. It won't hurt him to be seen as tolerant on other social issues, and welcoming to those who don't agree with his pro-life position.
If he wants grassroots support, he can also frame small government solutions around reform, although Pennsylvania voters have an amazingly high tolerance for corruption. But throw them a bone, find some Federal spending program to tout that will be popular in PA and send a little cash back to the state, just nothing egregious.
If he does not move fast on these fronts, he is toast. The corrupt machine and the press will kill him.
Red Phillips| 4.30.09 @ 1:23PM
Toomey is not my kind of conservative. If I lived in PA I would probably vote for Peg Luksik, but this is treachery. The party hacks are afraid of the party's message. If a conservative would have a hard time winning in PA then make the case for conservatism and let the chips fall where they may. What a bunch of useless wimps and back-stabbers. They need to grow a pair.
Ridge| 4.30.09 @ 1:32PM
chaos *reigns*
Rick| 4.30.09 @ 1:44PM
I actually changed my party affiliation from "Independent" to "Republican" so I could vote for Specter in the last Senate primary. I will not do so next year.
And you can dress up Toomey in pink chiffon and a purple sun hat, but you are not going to convince PA voters that he is anything but the dour little twerp that he is.
Tim| 4.30.09 @ 2:37PM
"Where have all the cowboys gone?"
Pingback| 4.30.09 @ 2:51PM
Biden hopes Specter backs card check compromise - Daily Times | Pennsylvania online p links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Big Jim in PA| 4.30.09 @ 3:48PM
Ridge should keep his powder dry and run against Casey when he comes up for re-election. Since Casey has proven not to actually be pro-life, that issue will be a wash and he can beat Casey. Toomey is the man for this cycle. He'll beat the unprincipled Specter going away.
Pittsburgh Pete| 4.30.09 @ 4:50PM
Life is conservative and so are its practitioners, voters. Honor, work-ethic, respect for others and self-reliance are themes that eternally resonate. Toomey unflinchingly stands for them, which is why the 'country-clubbers' are so scared of him.
Pingback| 5.2.09 @ 10:26PM
Buh Bye Benedict Arlen « Eat It Or Wear It links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Need New Blood| 5.3.09 @ 6:40PM
Ridge is a great idea, but he seems to making good money now yes? Here's an idea, how about Joe Watkins? Ran in 1994 against Santorum, is a businessman, clergyman, and MSNBC Analyst doing great work getting conservative ideas across on a network which well.... that seems counterintuitive. He's been working in the vineyard for years, his resume is very solid, and is well liked and respected by those who know him in the party. Reaganeques in character. He's what Obama would be if he were a rock ribbed conservative republican. Which makes Watkins utterly dangerous to Democrats. He's even got a website running his comments on MSNBC:
www.thewatkinsline.com