Posted on 04/23/2004 10:04:50 AM PDT by Veritas_est
Pennsylvania: Fox News' Beltway Boys Predict Upset in PA Senate Race
Republican Assembly efforts noted
The popular weekly political talk show "Beltway Boys" on the Fox News Network predicted an upset win by conservative Congressman Pat Toomey against Incumbent RINO Senator Arlen Specter. To the surprise of many inside the Washington DC beltway, a solid pro-life Republican who will support President Bush in judicial nominations and in tax policy is on the verge of an upset victory over the liberal Senator who has fought the President on both crucial issues.
Despite the efforts by Specter to derail the President's nominees and his weakness on fiscal issues the President endorsed the re-election of Specter. If returned to office, Specter is poised to take the Chairmanship of the Senate Judiciary Committee. While it would seem apparent that the White House would be better served by Toomey the endorsement is seen by many as an effort to limit the antagonism of what would ordinarily be a certain re-election of an incumbent.
In the past couple of weeks the relatively unknown Toomey has soared in the polls and should be well in the lead by Election Day if the current trends continue. While Toomey has motivated supporters and turnout by conservatives should be very good, Specter has resorted to desperate tactics by encouraging liberal Democrat union members to register to vote as Republicans promising that they can immediately return to the Democrat Party.
The efforts to get unashamed liberals to vote for Specter may have actually helped Toomey in his recent upswing in polling. Capitalizing among the bulk of the GOP being conservative Toomey has identified himself with "The Republican Wing of the Republican Party" which is the copywritten moniker of the National Federation of Republican Assemblies (NFRA) and the Pennsylvania Republican Assembly. The Republican Assembly group in Pennsylvania endorsed Toomey earlier this year and much of its leadership have been close to the campaign.
Republican Assemblies work to keep the GOP conservative by endorsing true conservatives prior to primary elections and then putting their vast volunteer network to work for those candidates.
Use of the phrase "The Republican Wing of the Republican Party" in the campaign and on the Fox News broadcast brought a flood of interest to the NFRA. NFRA President, Richard Engle said, "We are pleased that Cong. Toomey is using the phrase because it reflects the reason we are known by it." Engle continued, "If a non-member of a Republican Assembly or a candidate not endorsed by a state chapter were to use the phrase, well, they would get a call from our attorney. In this case it is very appropriate and we are very encouraged by the recent polling in Pennsylvania. I just hope that the trend continues and that the Pennsylvanians who have seen Sen. Specter as the obstructionist liberal that he is will stay motivated and vote for Cong. Toomey for US Senate.
I agree with you there, Common Tator. I remember the Goldwater election controversy. My family voted for Goldwater and wholeheartedly supported him. It seemed the right thing to do at the time, but in the bigger picture, Goldwater's nomination hurt the Republican party. The country wasn't ready for him, and I'm afraid that PA won't be ready for Toomey.
But in any case, I'll be voting for whichever candidate my party endorses in November. But I worry about the Philly voters and Montgomery County voters, who helped push Democratic Ed Rendell into the governorship after a Republican administration.
The GOP is more concerned about seniority in this seat than they are about ideology. If Ted Kennedy represented Pennsylvania and called himself a Republican, you'd have Santorum and Bush kissing his @ss no matter how much of a Marxist he is.
They've had 10 years of Santorum to prepare them. How ready do you want them to be? It's the Reagan model -- it works!
LOL! (While I sigh for what that really means)--I hope you win, Toomey!!
Wrongo. How often do you see the Party Establishment choose a challenger (much less openly) in a primary? 40 years to undo the "Goldwater debacle? You mean it was only undone this year? What about Reagan in 1980? (Nixon won in 68 and 72 as well). So if Specter isn't on the ticket, then Bush automatically loses PA? Your logic leaves much to be desired.
Exactly. All that talk about 'standard policy' of protecting incumbents is horse feces. It's nothing more than the usual Washington and GOP country clubbers giving hand jobs to one another.
Good point. Why did Bush take a proactive stance here?
I believe this race could do that very rare thing that everyone is always wanting to do--send a message--when conservatives feel betrayed and disappointed, we're told by the Machiavellians--"Where're ya gonna go?" After all, we don't have many alternatives, and the RINOs know it.
There could be another RINO or two who might get a chill down his spine at Specter's losing his primary. Maybe they might even start to listen to their own constitutents.
Like Bush, for instance, won't listen to his conservative base on enforcing immigration laws. As if he owes more to Fox than to the Middle America who support the WOT (which Fox does not).
Where're we gonna go? We won't be without some resources of our own.
Is this from the same electoral genuises who claimed that Bush Sr would win in 92 and Clinton was "unelectable"?
Or that Bush Jr. would win in a landslide this year?
Or who claimed that a bunch of "extremists" led by a fat, arrogrant, and abrasive "reactionary" would never win Congress in 1994?
It's absurd to believe that someone like Toomey is "unelectable" and at the same time believe that Specter, who is having trouble getting 50% of the support in his own party, is a "sure bet" in the general election.
And it's also absurd to put any corrleation between the PA Senate race and how that state votes for president this year.
Whatever happened to supporting or opposing a candidate based on their merits?
It seems like whenever anyone is for a crappy candidate, they always claim the other guys in the primary are "unelectable". And most of the time, they are wrong.
Fortunately you were not advising Rick Santorum's campaign. You know, the far right Pubbie who was carrying PA by about eight points in 2000 - even while the far left Gore took the state by five points.
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