Posted on 05/04/2009 6:40:54 PM PDT by Clintonfatigued
Former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge is considering running for the Republican Senate nomination in his home state, according to a senior Republican aide with knowledge of the situation.
National and Keystone State Republicans have been publicly and privately urging Ridge to consider a Senate bid since Sen. Arlen Specter (Pa.) announced earlier this week that he was switching parties and would run for re-election as a Democrat in 2010.
Specter said he switched parties because he could not win a primary against conservative former Rep. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), who is popular with the party’s base but whom many national Republicans believe cannot win the general election — especially against a 29-year incumbent who is viewed favorably and gets high marks from Democrats. Ridge’s moderate politics and national profile would make him a more viable candidate in the general election.
(Excerpt) Read more at rollcall.com ...
We don’t need to resort to the pro-abort Ridge in a state with strong pro-life sentiment. Besides, he’s too much the Washington DC insider type, the Richard Thornburgh of this decade.
Pro-abort Catholic ? Forget it. That position not only cost him the Vice-Presidency in 2000, it’s cost him his soul, too.
Sphincter switches party because, to the best of his knowledge, he was going to get his clock cleaned by Toomey.
So he switches party and thinks that the majority of PA Dems will vote blindly for an ex Republican?
And the GOP would rather run Ridge than Toomey?
Not too hard to figure out that the GOP is once again flipping the bird to conservatives.
Specter won't be the nominee, the Dems are going to run someone younger in the primary to oust him because he'll be too old and outlived his usefulness. That Dem will run as a pseudo-fiscal conservative.
So Ridge knocks off Toomey in the primary with the help of cross-over union and Dem votes and f*@#ing RNC/NRSC backing, and he'll lose in the general because conservatives will stay home and the Dems will paint Ridge as a Washington insider and Bush flunky.
Game, set, and match Rats.
Wave upon wave of Rino losers...when will the tide turn?
I used their return envelope, postage paid, to inform them that if they are supporting Tom Ridge, that I will use the donation to them and personally send it to Pat Toomey as he is who I will support.
We live in Pennsylvania and Tom Ridge is a nice guy, he was a good Govenor, but he is in the past, we must look forward to new folks, like Sarah Palin and we must inform Mitt Rommey to enjoy all his money and RETIRE, do volunteer work or what have you, just DON'T
run for POTUS again....
Nope to Ridge.
Not a dime from me. I’m not sending any money to the Republican Party. I will only be sending funds to individual conservative candidates.
Fox had a poll where Arlen was up by 20 points. I love Toomey but I have doubts he can win statewide. Since I’m guessing there will be very few if any abortion votes in the Senate Ridge would be a better candidate.
Jerry Ford, Bob Dole and John Mc Cain, great moderates who won big for the GOP....... Give me a break!!
When will they ever learn? I’m sure Ridge is a good guy but he’ll never win as a Dem light moderate republican.. Ann Coulter said it best “ When voters have to choose between a democrat and a democrat, they’ll choose the real thing every time “
This is where SarahPAC comes in. I believe she created this PAC for the sole purpose of electing conservative Republicans.
He can win if we get off our asses and pull out the stops and start knocking on doors.
You know, like they do to push their politicians and agenda.
He polls well appeartently (name ID) but what a terrible idea.
He’s old. Providing no distinction to Specter.
He’s pro-abortion. The pro-life vote is key for PA Republicans.
And he has Bush stink.
Ridge is not pro-abort. Ridge supports PA’s abortion control act signed by the late Bob Casey Sr. The PA abortion control act mandates 24 waiting periods for abortions, parental consent for minors, and bars state funded abortions.
On another note, the GOP grew in PA under Tom Ridge. The GOP took control of the PA General Assembly in the 1990s. Plus the GOP was competitive in the down ballot races in the Keystone state.
Since Pat Toomey headed the Club for Growth, the candidates endorsed by the Club have turned out to be real duds. Club endorsed candidates lost in the MI-07, MS, and ID of all places.
Therefore, does this mean Tom Ridge is the better party builder than Toomey?
Ridge was quite underwhelming during his stint in Congress (he was the most liberal member of the PA GOP House delegation when he retired in 1994). He drew a 3rd party opponent twice for Governor because he was a self-proclaimed abortion supporter, and as a Catholic, that was clearly an offensive position (and that is what cost him the VP nomination in 2000). Had he combined Bob Casey, Sr’s stridency on the issue with a solid Conservative record on the other issues, he might very well be the President today, but because of his squishy-ness, he pissed it all away.
As was mentioned, he’ll be another Dick Thornburgh type, and we all see what happened in his Senate run in 1991. If we’re going to run anyone absent Toomey, why not run Mark Schweiker ? Had Schweiker chosen to run for a full term in 2002 as Governor, he more than likely would’ve wiped the floor with Fast Eddie. He engendered a lot of warm feelings on his behalf. But until something else comes along, I think Toomey has worked his butt off and deserves our support. Ridge is just another symptom of what’s wrong with our party kow-towing to RINOs.
When Mark Schweiker became acting Governor in 2001, he had zero interest in running for re-election. Schweiker’s boost in approval ratings came in the summer of 2002, when the Western PA miners were trapped. Its unknown how Schweiker would fare in an election campaign.
In the case of Richard Thornburgh, outside factors were at work in the special election 1991. The economy then was in a recession. Harris Wofford claimed to be a pro-life Dem. Wofford, with the aid of James Carville, blamed the recession on Bush I and promised health care reform. Discontent with the recession allowed Wofford to pull that upset. Wofford’s victory provided the blue print for Clinton to beat Bush.
It was pretty clear the Dems lucked out when he opted out. A lot of Republicans were calling on him to run instead of Mike Fisher because he could break the party-swapping Gubernatorial curse. I think Schweiker would've won by anywhere from 5-10% (and '02 was a pretty good GOP year).
"In the case of Richard Thornburgh, outside factors were at work in the special election 1991. The economy then was in a recession. Harris Wofford claimed to be a pro-life Dem. Wofford, with the aid of James Carville, blamed the recession on Bush I and promised health care reform. Discontent with the recession allowed Wofford to pull that upset. Wofford’s victory provided the blue print for Clinton to beat Bush."
Thornburgh was an uninspiring establishment candidate. The fact that he lost to a nobody like Wofford just demonstrated that. The PA GOP should've recruited someone more exciting (hell, even Santorum could've taken a shot, fresh off his victory over a Dem incumbent in a Dem-leaning House district). It would've been interesting if Casey had gotten his initial choice of Lee Iacocca, but Iacocca is all over the map politically.
“Ridge is not pro-abort”
Pro-abortion, pro-choice, whatever. He wants it to be legal in most cases and supports Roe V. Wade doesn’t he?
If think the pro-life vote is key in PA. Isn’t it?
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