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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...

Cannot Post due to copyright issues: http://www.newyorker.com/talk/comment/2008/03/17/080317taco_talk_hertzberg

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...

HELENA - Tom Ridge, the former and first head of the federal Department of Homeland Security, took after Democratic Senate candidate Jon Tester on Wednesday, saying his call to repeal the federal Patriot Act is "ludicrous." Ridge, who said he was asked by former Republican Montana Gov. Marc Racicot to share his views with Montana reporters, said Tester's recent call to repeal the Patriot Act is "unfathomable, almost inexplicable." Tester, a Big Sandy farmer and current president of the Montana Senate, is challenging U.S. Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont. In a debate with Burns in Butte on Saturday, Tester said he...

Ridge urges GOP to unite behind Swann By Mike Wereschagin TRIBUNE-REVIEW Wednesday, May 31, 2006 Former Gov. Tom Ridge urged Republicans to put aside their misgivings about Lynn Swann and unite behind him in his bid to unseat Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell.

Ridge to join Swann's campaign By David M. Brown TRIBUNE-REVIEW Republican gubernatorial candidate Lynn Swann hopes to get a boost by adding former Gov. Tom Ridge, a heavy hitter in Pennsylvania politics, to his campaign team.

...........A federal judge who outlawed the teaching of "intelligent design" in Dover science classes told graduates at Dickinson College that the nation's founders saw religion as the result of personal inquiry, not church doctrine. U.S. District Judge John E. Jones gave the commencement address Sunday to 500 graduates at Dickinson College, his alma mater............... "The founders believed that true religion was not something handed down by a church or contained in a Bible, but was to be found through free, rational inquiry," said Jones, who was thrust into the national spotlight by last years court fight over the teaching of...

Massachusetts Bishop Refuses to Present Award to Pro-Abortion HonoreeHOLYOKE, Massachusetts, March 3, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Bishop Timothy A. McDonnell, of Springfield Diocese, has said he will not present an award for distinguished achievement to a recipient who is pro-abortion.  In long-standing tradition, Bishop McDonnell presents an annual award, on behalf of the St. Patrick’s Parade Committee, to honor someone of Irish descent for distinguished achievement.This year, the John F. Kennedy Award will be presented to a recipient who is pro-abortion, and the Bishop has expressed his objection. Thomas J. Ridge was selected by the Committee to receive the award on...

ERIE, Pa. - Laura Ridge, the mother of former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge, died Tuesday. She was 82. Ridge died at Saint Mary's Home of Erie after an extended illness. Tom Ridge stepped down as governor in 2001 to become head of the U.S. Homeland Security Department. The Ridge family emphasized education - her other son, David Ridge, is an attorney and daughter Vikki Ridge is director of human resources at Princeton University. But she always saw them first as family. After her son was elected governor in 1992, she said, "I'll always be Laura Ridge, no matter what Tom...

Twenty Years after TWA 847, No Lessons Learned By Debbie Schlussel Twenty years ago, this week, Hezbollah terrorists hijacked TWA Flight 847, and trampled Navy Diver Robert Stethem to death. Stethem's only crime was being American. The hijacking and murder was among the first televised Islamic terror attacks against Americans, unfolding on TV screens over 17 days. Twenty years later, disturbing kowtowing to Hezbollah terrorists shows we've learned nothing from Stethem's brutal murder at the hands of Islamic terrorists. On September 11, 2021, will it be worse? On June 15, 1985, Hezbollah hijackers seized the TWA flight in Athens. Identifying...

A few weeks ago I posted the question regarding Newt as a potential Presidential candidate.This week, as the result (or consequence) of a brief conversation with a scale master in Pennsylvania, the idea of Tom Ridge for 2008 was developed.He left Gov. of Pa. in relatively good graces ... he has (as far as I know) good paper ... he had a successful? stint as the first Homeland Security Director ... Marine (notice I did not say ex-marine ... Semper Fi!) ...And now the time comes to throw this out into (out into?) FreeRepublic.I'm inclined to like Ridge as a...

ATLANTA - Tom Ridge, the former secretary of the Department of Homeland Security and former governor of Pennsylvania, was named to Home Depot Inc.'s board of directors, the home improvement retailer announced on Thursday. "Tom Ridge served his country with great distinction, and we are honored to have him join our board, where we expect that his unique global experience and perspective will make a profound contribution to our company and our shareholders," said Bob Nardelli, chairman, president and CEO. The appointment of Ridge brings the number of directors on Home Depot's board to 13. This includes 12 outside directors,...

No issue, not one, threatens to do more damage to the Republican coalition than immigration. There's no issue where the beliefs and interests of the party rank-and-file diverge more radically from the beliefs and interests of the party's leaders. Immigration for Republicans in 2005 is what crime was for Democrats in 1965 or abortion in 1975: a vulnerable point at which a strong-minded opponent could drive a wedge that would shatter the GOP. President Bush won reelection because he won 10 million more votes in 2004 than he did in 2000. Who were these people? According to Ruy Teixeira —...

WASHINGTON (Talon News) -- Congressman Tom Tancredo (R-CO) issued a statement on Thursday blasting soon to be former Homeland Security Sec. Tom Ridge after reports that funding for 2,000 additional border patrol agents mandated by the recently passed intelligence reform bill would likely not be included in the DHS budget proposal. "I'm disappointed but not surprised as Mr. Ridge has never taken border security too seriously," said Tancredo, head of the Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus. "It's equivalent to denying a crime ridden city more officers for protection, it simply makes no sense." Tancredo also expressed concern that three years after...

WASHINGTON - Americans' fingerprints should be added to their passports, outgoing Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said Wednesday, hoping to include the United States in a growing global security standard but risking a privacy fight at home. Ridge said passports could ideally include biometric finger scans — for all 10 fingers — to help customs officials quickly and accurately identify U.S. travelers. He offered no details on how the plan might deal with privacy concerns or guard against international identity theft. "If we're going to ask the rest of the world to put fingerprints on their passports, we ought to...

Tuesday: The president talked about Social Security reform, laying more groundwork for understanding among the citizenry and their Congressional representatives. Bush nominated Judge Michael Chertoff to replace Tom Ridge, outgoing Homeland Security director. President Bush granted The Washington Times an extensive and exclusive interview: Bush: 'I don't see how you can be president without a relationship with the Lord' Today: President Bush spoke at J.E.B Stuart High School in the Washington suburb of Falls Church, VA, to promote his second-term education agenda under the No Child Left Behind law. Inaugural dress and gowns info found here! I get my wish...

(Washington-AP, Jan. 6, 2005 4:03 PM) _ U.S. intelligence monitors are picking up less terror threat talk than a year ago, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said Thursday. A variety of factors could be contributing to the lull, Ridge said, and he warned that terrorists "are strategic actors and long-range planners" who could be merely lying low before striking again. "There certainly is a diminution, reduction in the amount of intelligence, and the decibel level is lower," Ridge told reporters, comparing information picked up over the past several months to the similar period a year ago. Ridge offered no single...

A New Kind of New Year's ResolutionWASHINGTON (Reuters) - Instead of the usual New Year's resolutions to lose weight, quit smoking or exercise more, the Department of Homeland Security is urging Americans to create a family emergency plan for any terror attack. "The start of a new year is a time when many Americans are inclined to think about ways to make improvements for the future," departing Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said Wednesday. "Creating a family emergency plan is a great place to start. Families can create a plan that will allow them to know how best to communicate...

Former New York Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik, who is President Bush's nominee for secretary of homeland security, has the right background and tough-guy temperament for the job. Tom Ridge performed admirably in setting up the new department, but there are advantages to his successor having experience in law enforcement. One unresolved concern during Ridge's tenure has been the department's uneven coordination with and support for first responders - the local fire, police and rescue units that would be on the front lines of any terrorist attack. These agencies often complain that they lack the timely information, training and equipment to...

President Bush has chosen former New York City Police Commis sioner Bernie Kerik to replace Tom Ridge as secretary of Homeland Security, and it's hard to think of a more enlightened choice — for America, or for the city. Who better, after all, than New York's top cop on 9/11 to ensure America's security? On that horrible day, Kerik was right in the thick of things. He watched nearly 3,000 fellow citizens die — including 23 of his own officers. Not only is he super-sensitive to the high price Americans could pay should another strike on U.S. soil succeed,...

T om Ridge's resignation was expected and understandable, given the stresses of serving as the nation's secretary of homeland security. President George W. Bush appointed the former Pennsylvania governor and congressman to the new Cabinet post a few weeks after the 9/11 attacks. The Vietnam veteran faced the staggering task of creating an agency that would assume security responsibilities from 22 federal agencies and eventually employ some 180,000 workers

...Kerry accused the Bush administration of failing adequately to police the six million cargo containers flowing into the country each year.... This absurdity, in fact, conceals one of the great, low-budget successes of the war on terrorism. A rule was instituted overnight requiring shippers to deliver an electronic manifest of every container to U.S. Customs 24 hours before it's loaded aboard a ship in a foreign port. The info is fed through a classified, rule-based screening program to identify "high-risk" cargos, shippers or handlers, with the targeted containers undergoing X-ray or physical search before loading.... All this was done... for...

Tom Ridge was the best secretary of homeland security this country has known. And now that he's joining the exodus from the administration, President Bush has a chance to appoint someone better. Mr. Ridge gets credit for agreeing to be the new cabinet secretary whom the president did not want. But he failed to step up to some of his greatest challenges. In the end, as the first head of the newly created department, Mr. Ridge became known best for, well, playing with colors. Drafted from Pennsylvania just when America was in the throes of high anxiety, Mr. Ridge took...

Citing creative differences with the Bush administration, Director of Homeland Security Tom Ridge today resigned his cabinet post to become the new CEO of Binney & Smith, makers of Crayola crayons. "It's a growth opportunity for me," said an emotional Mr. Ridge at a hastily-called news conference. "I'm 59 now, and it's time to move beyond the five colors in the Homeland Security Advisory System. At Binney & Smith, I'll oversee an operation that often packs 128 different shades into a single box." Privately, associates of Mr. Ridge acknowledge that he has often clashed with President George Bush over expanding...

No details.

Since we can't post USA Today - You can read the article here REPORTS: RIDGE, THOMPSON TO STEP DOWNBut considering the source it may not be true.

Tony says his sources are telling him this..

The Transportation Security Administration issued an advisory on Friday that a Piper PA 25 Pawnee crop-dusting aircraft was stolen from Ejido Queretaro, near Mexicali, Mexico, on Nov. 1. "Although there is currently no indication that this has any connection to terrorist activity," the TSA said, "the theft is cause for concern. Past information indicates that members of al-Qa'ida may have planned -- or may still be planning -- to disperse biological or chemical agents from cropdusting aircraft." The stolen aircraft is registered in Mexico and bears the tail number XBCYP. If you see the aircraft, the TSA says you...