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ERIE, Pa. -- An Erie-area man will spend four to eight years in state prison for severely assaulting his ex-girlfriend's toddler despite a letter requesting leniency from ex-Gov. Tom Ridge. Mr. Ridge says in the letter that he is a neighbor of 21-year-old Matthew Lazenby, who lives with his parents in Millcreek Township. Mr. Ridge says in the letter that Mr. Lazenby is a "loving and nurturing father" despite his crime.

When looking at the poll data, it turns out that raising the alert levels never benefited Mr. Bush but may actually have hurt him. So we suggest a new conspiracy theory -- that Mr. Ridge stopped the country from going to orange alert to secure the re-election of Mr. Bush. As the current hyperventilating shows, some people will believe anything.

Tom Ridge, former US Secretary of Homeland Security, has written in his new book that he was pressured by then Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Attorney General John Ashcroft to "raise the terror alert to help Bush win re-election in 2004." He explains that "Bush's approval ratings typically went up when the threat level was raised, adding that Ashcroft and Rumsfeld pushed to elevate it during a vigorous discussion." After a number of former Bush administration officials called these claims "nonsense," Tom Ridge has decided to flip-flop on the issue, writes the USA Today. He now says that this...

Former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge on raising the terror alert level before the 2004 election: "We made the right decision, we did not go up."

I used to admire Tom Ridge. After reading Peter Baker in The New York Times, I have to say, I've lost a lot of respect for the man. By now you've probably heard about Ridge's allegation that he faced political pressure to change the Homeland Security Department's threat level in 2004. The most sensational assertion was the pre-election debate in 2004 about the threat level, first reported by U.S. News & World Report. Mr. Ridge writes that the bin Laden tape alone did not justify a change in the nation’s security posture but describes “a vigorous, some might say dramatic,...

Ridge Changes Tune On Terror Alert LevelsPITTSBURGH (KDKA) ― Click to enlarge1 of 1 Tom Ridge (File) Alex Wong/Getty Images Close numSlides of totalImages Former Pennsylvania Governor and Homeland Security Chief Tom Ridge is calling out former colleagues in the Bush Administration, suggesting they tried to play politics with the terror alert level. The charge comes in a book due out next month. Ridge claims other members of the Cabinet pressured him to raise the terror alert level shortly before the 2004 Presidential election. He says Attorney General John Ashcroft and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld pressed him to support increasing...

Bush vets dismiss Ridge claims By: Andy Barr August 20, 2009 06:53 PM EST Top officials from the George W. Bush White House are disputing claims in former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge’s coming book that they pressured him to adjust the terror threat level for political gain. “We went over backwards repeatedly and with great discipline to make sure politics did not influence any national security and homeland security decisions,” former White House chief of staff Andy Card told POLITICO. “The clear instructions were to make sure politics never influenced anything.” “I’m a little mystified,” former homeland security adviser...

Tom Ridge confirms a long-held suspicion among Bush critics, writing in his new autobiography that he "was pushed to raise the security alert on the eve of President Bush's re-election, something he saw as politically motivated and worth resigning over."...

Ridge: I was urged to raise terror level for re-election @ 11:32 am by Eric Zimmermann Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge was pressured to raise the terror threat level in the run-up to President Bush's re-election, the former cabinet secretary will claim in a new tell-all book. Titled "The Test of Our Times: America Under Siege…and How We Can Be Safe Again," the memoir is intended to rouse Americans from their complacency about security issues, Ridge says. To accomplish that goal, Ridge has included some stunning allegations about his time in the Bush administration. He almost considered resigning after being...

Washington—Having had enough of Limbaugh’s criticism of Colin Powell, Tom Ridge laid down the gauntlet on Rush Limbaugh, and evicting him from the Republican Party. The event took place after the interview on CSPAN’s Washington Journal where Ridge took a strong stance, supporting Colin Powell and blaming Limbaugh and Dick Cheney for having “a mindset,” that doesn’t foster unity.

RUSH: Now, I've checked my e-mail at home since the Sunday shows. They had General Powell on Face the Nation Sunday. Tom Ridge was on CNN on Sunday morning. Tom Ridge, just for your information, Tom Ridge called this program in 2003 to detail for... I mean, he wanted to be on this program in 2003, Tom Ridge out there saying I'm too shrill and I need to dial it back and all these other things. But I need to ask the question: Who's really changed? I've been who I am for 20 years. When it comes to the core...

WASHINGTON It was already known that former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge has ruled out running against former Republican-turned Democratic Sen. Arlen Specter next year. But would Ridge consider making a White House bid in 2012? Ridge, a moderate Republican who was the nation's first homeland security chief, says he plans to work within the party so the GOP wins the presidency in 2012. "And we'll just leave it at that," he says. Ridge believes Republicans need to make some changes in their approach to be more successful. Asked in a broadcast interview whether he might want to accomplish those changes...

I didn't realize how much I don't like Tom Ridge until the last few interviews, he goes after Rush Limbaugh, then he's telling us what the Republican Party needs, but when asked if he'll support the GOP candidate, he can't commit to that yet...Invasion of the RINOs..

WASHINGTON (May 24) -- The conservative vs. moderate split threatening to rupture the Republican Party played out across the airwaves Sunday, with Colin Powell and Tom Ridge denouncing shrill and judgmental voices they say are steering the GOP too far right. Karl Rove challenged Powell to lay out his vision and "back it up" by helping elect Republicans. At stake is the GOP's status as a major party, Powell and Ridge suggested "I believe we should build on the base because the nation needs two parties, two parties debating each other. But what we have to do is debate and...

n his audacious attack on a sitting president last week, Mr Cheney declared that America was less safe from terrorism after Mr Obama's decision to abandon violent interrogation methods and close Guantanamo. But once the cheering had died down on talk radio and cable television, discordant voices emerged from the Right to challenge Mr Cheney's defence of the Bush-era legacy. "Yeah, I disagree with Dick Cheney," said Tom Ridge, who was appointed by the Bush-Cheney administration to set up and run the Department of Homeland Security in the wake of the 2001 terrorist attacks on America. Mr Ridge spoke out...

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Two top Bush-era officials on Friday rejected ex-vice president Dick Cheney's scathing criticism of US President Barack Obama, saying the country's national security was not in jeopardy. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who served in the same post under former president George W. Bush, and Tom Ridge, the former head of homeland security, both voiced disagreement with Cheney a day after he attacked Obama's performance as the new commander-in-chief.

Let's review the bidding. Tom Ridge will not run for Senator from Pennsylvania. He has decided to pass up the chance to trample an ultra-conservative Republican in the primary and sneak past a former-moderate-Republican in the general election for Senate in 2010. Tom Ridge would have been the Senator from Pennsylvania, but he is smart to want to be the Senator from Pennsylvania. Arlen Specter has a pain-in-the, er, tush for nearly 30 years. He was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1980 - the same year as Ronald Reagan was elected President and Dan Quayle was elected Senator...

The Republican Party suffered a major blow on Thursday when Tom Ridge, the former Pennsylvania governor and Secretary of Homeland Security, announced that he will not run for the U.S. Senate in 2010. “After careful consideration and many conversations with friends and family and the leadership of my party, I have decided not to seek the Republican nomination for Senate," said Ridge in a written statement. Ridge's decision not to run is a boon to Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa. The longtime moderate Republican senator switched parties on April 28 to avoid a tough GOP primary challenge from former Rep. Pat...

Tom Ridge: an Arlen Specter Republican? The former governor of Pennsylvania has refused to say that he’d vote for Republican Pat Toomey over Dem Arlen Specter should the two meet in the PA US Senate race. Ridge appeared on this afternoon’s Hardball. He began by announcing that he will not seek the GOP nomination for Senate. But at the end of the interview, when Chris Matthews asked about his preference between Toomey and Specter, Ridge played it coy. View video here.

Former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge ended speculation today that he might run for the U.S. Senate in 2010. The blog PA2010.com reports that Ridge issued a statement saying he will not run. “After careful consideration and many conversations with friends and family and the leadership of my party, I have decided not to seek the Republican nomination for Senate............"

Tom Ridge announced today that he will not seek the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in next year's primary.

Tom Ridge running for the U.S. Senate is the best case scenario for Pennsylvania Republicans. Consider the facts: the man has never lost an election in the Keystone State. He developed a record as a proven fiscal conservative as Governor, holding government spending to at or below the rate of inflation and cutting taxes by over $2 billion, while squirreling away boom-time revenues for a $1 billion rainy-day fund. A much decorated Vietnam veteran and local prosecutor, he’s strong on national security and law and order - a profile he only added to as the first Director of Homeland Security...

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...

Former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge is seriously considering a run for the Senate for the GOP nomination against Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.), according to Roll Call: 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...

The chattering in Harrisburg, Pa. and increasingly in Washington, D.C. is this: Pat Toomey will not be able to win the PA senate seat being held by Arlen Specter, now that the race will be held in a general election and not in the Pa. GOP primary. As such, the name of Pennsylvania's former governor Tom Ridge has popped to the surface as the one candidate that can beat Arlen Specter. Think again. Pat Toomey versus Arlen Specter would be the classic Conservative vs. Liberal type of campaign that the GOP, now in the minority, needs to take in order...

Tom Ridge called two predictions today. He said Steelers would win, and they are going to (they are up 17 in the 4 QTR) and Mac would win. If the Steelers game is any indication of tomorrow's election, I will say Ridge is right. Mac will be our next POTUS.

HARRISBURG -- Former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge said today that John McCain can't become president without carrying Pennsylvania and that the race would be different if McCain had chosen him as his running mate. "I think the dynamics would be different in Pennsylvania," Ridge said when asked if he should have been chosen to run as vice president over Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. "I think we'd be foolish not to admit it publicly." read more at : http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/mostread/s_595030.html

Former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge said today that John McCain can't become president without carrying Pennsylvania and that the race would be different if McCain had chosen him as his running mate. "I think the dynamics would be different in Pennsylvania," Ridge said when asked if he should have been chosen to run as vice president over Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. "I think we'd be foolish not to admit it publicly." Ridge, the campaign's national co-chairman, said McCain "had several good choices and I was one of them." He nonetheless defended the Palin selection, calling it a "typical, bold McCain-like...

I was going to let it go when Politico did it but now NBC’s done it too, so let’s take a moment. The new narrative about fingerpointing within Team Maverick is starting to congeal and naturally Palin, given her unfavorables, is expected to be Scapegoat #1. Hence the media interest today in Tom Ridge hinting McCain would win Pennsylvania if he was VP, which is arguably true but overlooks the minor detail of how those red states McCain desperately needs to hold would have reacted to a pro-choice VP. Here’s the latest obvious attempt to advance the ball, distorting an...

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- John McCain has confirmed that he will not be picking a running mate who takes a pro-abortion position and has ruled out former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge, who media outlets promoted as a possibility McCain aides told Republican Party officials of the decision and they confirmed it to Fox News. The aides and officials indicated that McCain “got the message” from pro-life advocates that picking an abortion advocate like Ridge was non-negotiable and could cost him votes.

Wolf Blitzer for one apparently doesn't think Tom Ridge's pro-choice position should disqualify him as John McCain's VP pick. The former Pennsylvania congressman and governor was a guest on this afternoon's Situation Room, and Blitzer began by playing a clip of Rush Limbaugh urging McCain not to pick a pro-choice running mate, saying it would "obliterate all the progress that he experienced" at the Saddleback forum. Ridge surmised that "Rush and everybody else hopefully can see that there's a clear choice regardless of the vice-presidential candidate. A choice that says that John McCain is needed now as president of the...

This is an AP article. I did a search and didn't see it posted anywhere and I'm not sure if AP articles were still prohibited here. Anyway, Ridge believes Republicans will accept a pro-abortion VP.

Commenting on John McCain's remark that Tom Ridge's pro-choice position would not rule him out as a vice presidential running mate, conservative leader and strongly pro-lifer Phyllis Schlafly got straight to the point by bluntly telling Newsmax, "I think [McCain] would be making a mistake." In a Newsmax report, McCain was quoted by The Weekly Standard as saying, “I think that the pro-life position is one of the important aspects or fundamentals of the Republican Party. And also I feel that — and I’m not trying to equivocate here — that Americans want us to work together. You know, Tom...

This can be a deciding factor in a close election, and it looks as if the election will be a very close horse race. Most voters know that Joe Lieberman and Tom Ridge are pro-aborts, but they might not know about Florida's Gov. Charlie Crist. He is sneaky, calls himself pro-life, but is not. Awhile back the Florida House approved a bill to give women the option to see an ultrasound before having an abortion. I heard Laura Ingraham say that Gov. Charlie Crist did not support this in the past, but he might support it now, because he wants...

LifeNews.com Note: Austin Ruse is president of the New York and Washington DC-based Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute. These views are his alone and do not reflect the position of C-FAM. Ruse is also a member of the McCain Catholic Steering Committee and one of the first pro-life advocates to endorse McCain.If John McCain picks a pro-abortion running mate, he's likely to lose. If he picks a pro-abortion Catholic as his running mate, he will definitely lose. Right now McCain is skating on the thinnest of ice. At best, the election is tied. In many polls, he is 4-5...

Top social conservative leaders in key battleground states are urging John McCain not to pick a running mate who supports abortion rights, warning of dire consequences from a Republican base already unenthused about their nominee. McCain’s comments Wednesday to the Weekly Standard’s Stephen Hayes that former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge’s pro-abortion rights views wouldn’t necessarily rule him out quickly found their way into the in-boxes of Christian conservatives. For those who have been anxiously awaiting McCain’s pick as a signal of his ideological intentions, there was deep concern that their worst fears about the Arizona senator may be realized. “It...

John McCain's admission to the Weekly Standard's Steve Hayes ("Shayes" to friends) that he would consider the possibility of choosing a pro-choice running mate is rightly seen as a trial balloon to gauge reaction among conservative base voters to such a move. "I think that the pro-life position is one of the important aspects or fundamentals of the Republican Party," McCain told Hayes. "And I also feel that -- and I'm not trying to equivocate here -- that Americans want us to work together. You know, [former Pennsylvania Governor] Tom Ridge is one of the great leaders and he happens...

IN A WIDE-RANGING INTERVIEW aboard his campaign plane this morning, John McCain said that he is open to choosing a pro-choice running mate and named former Pennsylvania governor Tom Ridge as someone who merits serious consideration despite his support for abortion rights. McCain also criticized Barack Obama's presidential campaign for attempts to "politicize" the debate over Georgia and criticized President Bush for failing to recognize the true nature of Vladimir Putin. "I think that the pro-life position is one of the important aspects or fundamentals of the Republican Party," McCain said. "And I also feel that--and I'm not trying to...

Ridge said he was proud of how McCain has handled the crisis unfolding in Georgia. ...“He has kept a cool head, taken calls from Georgian president Mikhail Saakashvili -- and really behaved very presidential in his perspective of this crisis,” said Ridge as McCain shook hands with the crowd that gathered around him. “He has been to Georgia several times,” Ridge added. “He doesn’t need to look for it on a map.”

Sen. John McCain on Monday is campaigning through Pennsylvania with former governor and vice presidential contender Tom Ridge.

ABC News Jan Simmonds reports: On ABC News' "This Week with George Stephanopoulos," former Pennsylvania Governor and Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge reaffirmed his pro-choice position on abortion, and said he did not think Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., would make it a litmus test on whom he would choose to be his running mate. "I would think John would never make it a litmus test, but when it comes down to a nominee selecting a vice presidential running mate, it's their decision exclusively," said Ridge. "And I would respect that decision one way or another." When asked whether he...

Republican presidential candidate John McCain's short list of vice presidential possibilities has been essentially narrowed to six, according to a source familiar with the search. Factions within the Arizona senator's campaign are pushing for their favored candidate, sources tell the Phoenix Business Journal, a Baltimore Business Journal sister publication.

Conservatives Complicate Ridge Choice As Veep By BRETT LIEBERMANWASHINGTON — He was on the short list in 2000, but passed over because of opposition from social conservatives. Will 2008 be Tom Ridge's year? Or is he destined to be left behind again? Political insiders close to John McCain say the presumptive Republican presidential nominee would really like to pick Ridge, his close friend, national co-chair of his campaign and a fellow former Vietnam veteran, to be his vice-presidential running mate. Analysts and party insiders believe that Ridge would almost certainly guarantee a victory in Pennsylvania, which is viewed as a...

Many handicappers believe that former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge could help McCain rev up Republicans in that key state. But the party's conservative base is not likely to stand for a pro-abortion rights Republican lounging a heart-beat away from the Presidency. That reality keeps Mitt Romney in the hunt. A related problem hampers another former McCain opponent, Mike Huckabee. Huckabee passes the Right's social values test, but is viewed as too "compassionate" by fiscal conservatives. Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty is perhaps the prospective Veep who best fits the characteristics McCain needs. Tim who? Former Minnesota Rep. Vin Weber pointed out...

If there's one person in the NBC news stable who combines solid political analysis with a commitment to fairness, it could be political director Chuck Todd. Proof thereof comes from no less a certified conservative source than Tom DeLay. Appearing on this evening's Hardball just after Todd had offered his breakdown of the electoral map, DeLay allowed that he "can't dispute" any of Todd's analysis, prompting Chris Matthews to exclaim "that's a development for us here: objective truth for you!" So what was that Todd analysis that DeLay didn't dispute? There was much to it, but for present purposes let's...

Ridge for VP? The Benefits 1. Pennsylvania. For once, conventional wisdom is right. In Pennsylvania, where perhaps a few thousand votes could mean the difference between 0 and 25 electoral votes, Ridge’s brand is well-regarded among the voters, especially women voters, that Sen. McCain absolutely needs to keep from turning overwhelmingly to Sen. Barack Obama. Think about dispatching Ridge to the Philadelphia suburbs where he’d go toe-to-toe with Gov. Ed Rendell. I know you are worried about the Philly suburbs, and you know that Ridge will help you there more than just about any candidate. 4. He will not make...

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Ridge for VP, Cont'd Mike Goldfarb is right that Tom Ridge will be among those John McCain's seriously considers as his runningmate. As Goldfarb notes, Ridge is from the electorally important state of Pennsylvania. McCain not only respects him, but he considers him a friend, and he was happy to have Ridge with him for a spell on the road during the primaries. But there are other reasons Ridge would be a surprising choice. The fact that both would be perceived to have strong national security credentials would argue against a McCain-Ridge ticket. In some ways, they're too much alike,...

The first secretary of the Homeland Security Department says waterboarding is torture. "There's just no doubt in my mind — under any set of rules — waterboarding is torture," Tom Ridge said Friday in an interview. Ridge had offered the same opinion earlier in the day to members of the American Bar Association at a homeland security conference. "One of America's greatest strengths is the soft power of our value system and how we treat prisoners of war, and we don't torture," Ridge said in the interview. Ridge was secretary of the Homeland Security Department between 2003 and 2005. "And...

Since announcing my support of Sen. John McCain's candidacy for president recently, the most curious question I have received is "why now?" The simplest answer is "why not now?" Candidates are beginning to emerge. The '08 gates have opened, and now is the time to help a friend who I believe is the most able, proven leader in our midst to be the next president of the United States. What compels me to speak out now about the many reasons I believe my friend of 25 years is the right person to lead this country? Because I believe that John...