Pat Toomey for US Senate

Pat Toomey for US Senate ^ | Pat Toomey

[GOPMark]

Why I'm running against Sen. Specter By PATRICK J. TOOMEY

THE REPUBLICAN Party today has an extraordinary opportunity to govern America.

For the first time in 70 years (but for two fleeting years in the early 1950s), Republicans control the entire elected government in Washington. What we do with this opportunity is up to us. We can advance the agenda most Republicans believe in, or we can squander the opportunity.

As a lifelong liberal, Arlen Specter does not, and will not, support a conservative agenda. When I get elected to the U.S. Senate next year, I'll make sure that we seize the opportunity to govern America with a commonsense conservative agenda.

We have a House of Representatives that consistently passes good Republican legislation, and a president who has shown tremendous leadership on our issues and would sign that legislation into law. The obstacle has been the Senate, where a handful of liberal Republicans, including Arlen Specter, so often side with the Democrats.

Unfortunately, Sen. Specter has actively worked against the GOP agenda for 23 long years. He voted against President Reagan more than any other Republican senator in 1986 and 1987, and voted with Bill Clinton a majority of the time during six of his eight years in office.

Sen. Specter voted with Tom Daschle to shrink President Bush's 2001 tax cut, with Hillary Clinton and the liberal trial lawyers against medical malpractice reform, and he voted against school choice for Washington, D.C., school children.

Citizens Against Government Waste has given Sen. Specter the second worst lifetime rating among all current GOP senators.

He is a big supporter of affirmative action, expanding hate crimes laws, taxpayer-funded abortion and subjecting U.S. soldiers serving abroad to trial before the International Criminal Court just for doing their job. He has voted for five major tax increases, including two that were the largest in history at the time of their enactment.

Sen. Specter's record makes it clear that, if he were re-elected, he would squander our opportunity to govern America with a conservative agenda.

These are the reasons I decided to run for the U.S. Senate. Unlike Sen. Specter, I believe in the principles of the Republican Party, and I am a conservative. I believe in limited government, lower taxes, personal freedom, the free-market system and respecting the sanctity of human life. And when I get elected to the Senate, I will work to advance a Republican agenda, not the agenda of the Democrats.

I did not make this decision to challenge Sen. Specter in haste. Before I could ask my family and friends to support me, I had to know two things. Could I win the primary, and, if I did, could I go on to win the general election?

The first question was answered in an extensive poll we did in January, before I announced my candidacy. The poll showed that a majority of Republican primary voters were eagerly seeking an alternative to Sen. Specter.

The second was answered by taking a hard look at my own congressional district. The 15th District, where I have been elected three times, is very representative of Pennsylvania as a whole. In my district, Democrats outnumber Republicans, Bill Clinton won in 1992 and 1996, and Al Gore beat President Bush in 2000. In 2002, as Ed Rendell defeated Mike Fisher by double digits, my opponent and the Democratic Party spent more than a million dollars attacking me - yet I still won that race with 57 percent of the vote.

The fact is I've won general elections in a tough, Democrat-leaning district three times in a row, and I think I can put together the same winning coalition statewide, too.

I am raising the money necessary to get my message out, I am on the air statewide, the list of Republican groups and individuals endorsing my campaign is growing daily, and I am attracting considerable favorable national media attention.

I'm running for the Senate because this is our chance to lead America with a Republican vision, and I am not going to let Sen. Specter throw it away.

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U.S. Rep. Patrick J. Toomey (www.pattoomey.org) is a Republican who has rep- resented the Allentown area since 1999.

[Clintonfatigued]

Thanks for posting this important story, Mark. If he manages to win the primary, what do you think his chances are against the likely 'Rat nominee, Congressman Joe Hoeffel?

[Kuksool]

If Pat Toomey wins the GOP primary, I'd rate the open Senate as a toss-up. Western PA is filled with blue collar, Catholic Democrats who are pro-life and pro-gun (Bob Casey Democrats). If Toomey can find a way to appeal to the Casey Democrats, then he has a very good chance of winning the Senate race.

[Impy]

Finally I can say "Go Pat Go". :-p

[AuH2ORepublican]

"If Pat Toomey wins the GOP primary, I'd rate the open Senate as a toss-up."

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Hoeffel won't beat Toomey. Hoeffel's too much of a social liberal, and his gun-grabbing ways are anathema to the blue-collar Democrats who comprise the heart of the party outside of the Philly area. If Toomey beats Arlen in the primary (as I pray that he does, and already sent him money to try to get it done), he should win with between 52%-55% of the vote.

[Kuksool]

***Hoeffel's too much of a social liberal, and his gun-grabbing ways are anathema to the blue-collar Democrats who comprise the heart of the party outside of the Philly area.***

The Bob Casey Democrats are a very fickle bunch. They have no problem voting for Al Gore and Ed Rendell. Yet, they give approval ratings to Sen. Rick Santorum and Rep. Melissa Hart (PA-04). I suspect the support that Santorum and Hart receive from the Casey Dems has more to do with the fact that they're from the Western PA area than their conservative voting records. Since Pat Toomey is not from the Pittsburgh area, it is not clear how the Casey Dems will react to him. This is why I rate a Toomey - Hoeffel Senate match as a toss-up. Now if Melissa Hart ran instead of Toomey, she would crush both Specter and Hoeffel. Being a pro-life woman from Pittsburgh is a political asset in the Keystone State.

[votelife]

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[votelife]

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