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The Spectacle Blog
While addressing the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) Thursday morning, Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa..) discussed the historical significance of his primary challenge to then Sen. Arlen Specter back in 2004. The “battle for the heart and soul of the Republican Party” between big spending moderates and committed conservatives that was evident in 2004 may have inspired subsequent Tea Party efforts, Toomey suggested. Despite losing out on key endorsements from leading Republican figures in 2004, Toomey believes his primary campaign created a strong foundation for conservative activism that translated into victory in 2010.
It is important to discern between principled primary challenges that can advance the cause of limited government and those that are ultimately self-defeating. Here on the 100th anniversary of Ronald Reagan’s birthday it is worth recalling that his primary challenge against President Gerald Ford in 1976 set the stage for his transformative presidency in 1981. But it is also worth noting we are short of a few Republican U.S. Senate seats in places like Nevada that were winnable in 2010. It’s a delicate dance but ideological purity has to be balanced against political realities.
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More Blog Posts by Kevin Mooney
http://spectator.org/blog/2011/02/10/sen-pat-toomey-connects-2004-c
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Ryan| 2.10.11 @ 12:55PM
The problem - as it was with Mike Castle - is when we give up far too much ideological purity in the name of practicality. There were a handful of bad candidates in several races with good ideology. The trick is getting good candidates with good politics who can also win races.
Yeah, a good argument can be made for Scott Brown, and he really is probably the best we can get out of MA. I think that there could have been someone far better than Castle without whatever stigma O'Donnell had.
Conservative Bob| 2.10.11 @ 12:56PM
Damn are we going to fight that battle again? You are going to honestly say that we would be better of strategically to have a reliable dem vote in Castle as a Republican Senator than an actual democrat? All having Castle in the senate would have done is to increase the Olympia Snow Susan Collins block to insure that superior republican numbers would still only yield progressive/socialist results. With a good crop of RINOs would could have actually won the Senate and guaranteed we would get the blame for the ongoing failure of the government. What exactly is the objective again, limited constitutional government or a GOP Majority no matter what compromises we have to make to get there?
Curly Smith| 2.10.11 @ 1:08PM
The objective is relative.
If you're the Republican Party then the objective is to win elections to capture and hold power.
If you're a Conservative it's to elect politicians who'll advance a conservative agenda. Over the years we've forgotten that a political party has no ideology beyond gaining power and it's up to voters to hold the party in check.
Conservative Bob| 2.10.11 @ 1:15PM
Which explains why I no longer send money to the GOP but rather directly to candidates?
louis tully| 2.10.11 @ 1:47PM
"But it is also worth noting we are short of a few Republican U.S. Senate seats in places like Nevada that were winnable in 2010."
Passive aggressive silliness. Nevada was winnable by a Republican huh? Did the winnable Republican run? if not why not, and if so, how can you call him/her winnable(electable) if she/he didn't in fact win?
Can I tell you how I read your quoted comment? You want all of us to do a better job of voting for who YOU want us to vote for. If you don't learn anything else at CPAC, please figure out that we aren't soliciting your advise anymore. have a nice day...
David C| 2.14.11 @ 2:21AM
"ideological purity has to be balanced against political realities."
Strange, Mr. Mooney. I always thought ideological purity and the lack of it were political realities.
Steve in Pittsburgh| 4.28.11 @ 9:58PM
Arlen Specter voted on the right until Reagan was out of office. He knew Reagan would have taken him to the woodshed if he got out of line. After Reagan was out of office, Specter slowly turned to the left and his popularity in Pa declined.
If we can't get people like Paul Ryan, Rand Paul, Pat Toomey and others, then don't put anyone up. Otherwise we get RINOs like Specter and Castle.