Dan, I'm not whining about Toomey's loss. I'm whining about Santorum's support of Specter. He let us conservatives down. And we can no longer support him with the same zeal we once had for him. The stark truth is that by supporting Specter, Santorum whored himself for the Republican party. And if another pro-life, pro-2nd amendment conservative faces Santorum in the primary, I'll probably vote for the challenger. That's how much Santorum's support of Scottish law Specter hurt. I think Bush, Rove and Santorum were blindsided by Toomey's razor thin loss. They sorely underestimated the level of distaste PA conservatives have for Specter.
We'll see how Specter does when Bush finally does appoint a Supreme Court justice. I honestly believe Santorum's reelection is riding on it.
Believe me, I understand, though I personally was not surprised Santorum backed Specter. You could look at it as being a "party whore"; I won't argue. I saw it -- and I believe Santorum did -- as attempting to keep a key seat in Republican hands to stop a Democratic takeover of the entire chamber.
The RNC knew full well that was a danger. The last, last thing we want is for Bush to be stuck with a Democratic Senate, as Daschle's 2001 coup should remind us. Santorum played politics, as politicians will do; I sincerely doubt that Toomey himself would not have done the same thing in that position.
-Dan