Pat Toomey’s Future An interview.

National Review ^ | 4/30/04 | Ramesh Ponnuru

[Sabertooth]

Well maybe Tancredo should (have) challenge Bush in the primary. You know its those damn illegals that are killing this country.

If you're going to troll and bait, you'll need to do a little better than that.

You may want to brush up on my posts regarding Tancredo, primary challenges, etc.

[ClintonBeGone]

Had Bush & Santorum simply remained silent on the issue, Toomey would've won this thing. It'a absurd to believe that Toomey couldn't win in November because Hoeffel has carried traditionally Republican areas in the past.

The point still remains that he didn't win a majority of his own party's vote. I simply refuse to engage in the typical libertarian schtick where they blame everyone else for their candidate's shortcomings.

[cynicom]

Ahban...

Speaking for myself...I am a CONSERVATIVE, no party owns me or my vote. There is a huge difference between an ideology and a political party.

[ClintonBeGone]

I remember Bush the elder in a speech saying "there is a NEW WORLD ORDER out there". That got my attention.

I'm sure you were relieved to know at that point that your tin foil hat was working.

[Criminal Number 18F]

And Luis is not an American name. It's spelled Louis. Assimilate, or go back to your "homeland", Luis.

Hayzoos Marimba. "Louis" isn't an American name either -- it's French. "Patrick Toomey" isn't American, it's Irish. I mean... lighten up, Francis. Following your post to its logical extreme, the only American names are Little Deer and Running Bear. But wait! They came over the Bering land bridge ~ 10,000 years ago. Damn migrants, inhabiting a perfectly good wilderness... wait'll the Earth First! loons hear about this...

d.o.l.

Criminal Number 18F

[Formoore04]

"I think he's assimlated quite well. Its you that seems to be a problem. America is a melting pot and you appear to be a big clump of #(%$ floating on top."

It must be really fun being able to just randomly put together mindless slogans without even knowing what they mean. You must have a lot of fun doing that.

Do you even know what America being a melting pot means? It means people of all cultures come to this country, but when they get here, they become American.

You speak the language, you engage in the native customs, and you make this country your native land.

Luis hasn't done any of that.

[cynicom]

When you have nothing intelligent, informitive or interesting to offer, go for a personal attack.

[Ciexyz]

I'm surprised that Specter didn't give Toomey a call after he conceded. Guess there's a lot of angry, bad blood brought about by the tough primary fight.

[ClintonBeGone]

When you have nothing intelligent, informitive or interesting to offer, go for a personal attack.

It's only personal if its true.

[Delphinium]

The Republican Party, like any other political party, is a political entity whose platform is based on the aggregate of the political ideology of the totality of its membership, operating under one common banner.

And what if a candidate stands for nothing in the platform that is based on the aggregate of the political ideology of the totality of its membership?

What in the Republican platform does Specter stand for?

[Mamzelle]

Welcome to FR!

[NittanyLion]

I'm surprised that Specter didn't give Toomey a call after he conceded. Guess there's a lot of angry, bad blood brought about by the tough primary fight.

I doubt that's the reason. Specter has always been an arrogant SOB. Even his own Senatorial aides can't stand the man; his is consistently voted among the worst Capitol Hill offices.

[Formoore04]

"It's only personal if its true."

So an ad hominem attack is only an insult if it's true?

Well I guess you won't be insulted if I called you a jackass then, unless you are a jackass...

Grow up.

[ClintonBeGone]

Do you even know what America being a melting pot means? It means people of all cultures come to this country, but when they get here, they become American.

Think about the logic, or should I say illogic of that statement. You have one pound of melted red candle in a pot. You melt a second pound of yellow candle in the same pot. Is the mixture going to be red or orange.

[sunshine state]

Don't you think though, that for folks on the fence, the fact that the other (conservative) Senator and the President were both in Specter's corner made a difference? I'm not a voter in Pennsylvania BTW, just an interested observer.

[ClintonBeGone]

Joseph, not Jose. Albert, not Alberto. John, not Juan. Stephen, not Stefan. Carl, not Carlos.

It seems most of your type like the shorter names. Fewer letters to sew on their white sheets.

[NittanyLion]

I simply refuse to engage in the typical libertarian schtick where they blame everyone else for their candidate's shortcomings.

Suit yourself.

[Sabertooth]

Think it through. A third party (any third party) in American politics will never be anything but a spoiler, unless one of the major parties is so decayed that the third party replaces it entirely.

The reason is that American electoral politics is a winner-take-all proposition.

< -snip- >

The system is bipolar, and if disturbed by a third party, seeks its own equilibrium.

Quite right, and the two-party effect of winner-take-all representation by districts is amplified by the Electoral College. For third parties to ever be an ongoing force in American national politics, Constitutional Amendments to change the Legislative branch to a pariliamentray system and to abolish the E.C. would be required. Such Amendments would never pass muster, as less populous states would have to willingly cede power to California, Texas, New York, and Florida.

What folks don't understand is that party systems are determined by electoral systems. This is about as inviolable an axiom as one can find in political science.

What they also don't understand is that our two-party system, as entrenched as it is, is an unintended consequence of the electoral system constructed by the Framers (who were averse to faction, at least in theory) more than two centuries ago. At that time, democracy was still somewhat experimental, and the laws of political science were mostly unknown.

[ClintonBeGone]

Don't you think though, that for folks on the fence, the fact that the other (conservative) Senator and the President were both in Specter's corner made a difference? I'm not a voter in Pennsylvania BTW, just an interested observer.

Oh, there is no doubt that made a difference. But Toomey had an obligation to address and win over those voters. It's an uphill battle, but before you (or your supporters) he would have been the better candidate in November, you have an obligation to show you can win a majority of your own people in April.