Fellow FReepers...Rick didn’t just endorse Specter (at Bush’s prompting) on ‘boilerplate’ issues, he enequivically desserted his conservative base (who wanted to get rid of Specter). Santorum and Specter were polar opposites on just about every issue; Santorum and Toomey (the man he stabbed in the back) were identical on every conservative issue. A true conservative, Pat Toomey, was absolutely blindsided by the tandem campaign duo of Specter/Bush (w/Santorum tagging along for good measure). Rush is right...conservatism works when you adhere strictly to conservative principles. Rick abandoned his when he endorsed Specter...and guess what happened next?
Specter, in a vote of gratitude to Santorum...DROPPED HIM LIKE A ROCK and sat on his Scottish hands and let Bobby Casey, Jr. (who alot of our seasoned citizens thought were voting for his late father) win. Specter, not a conservative, had no ‘values’ to dessert (other than his parties ultra-conservative same state, Junior Senator.)
Santorum had not just burned bridges, he nuked them. A huge mushroom cloud just floated up from his campaign. Many in the Toomey camps thought Rick was just sick of the Senate job; had a lot of young kids at home; and knew he couple make 10 times the money going into the private sector. Which he did. So don’t blame PA for lack of conservative candidate...sometimes the ones we choose have ‘different’ ideas.
And, Toomey is reported considering a run for Governor (though I would love to see him in the US Senate); and Peg Luksik, running in the primary against Specter (I would love to see those options flip flopped)...but BOTH Toomey and Luksik are 100% pro-life; pro-gun; pro-military; anti-big government types.
Hi sneakers, a ping to my post 68. Just seeing if you had anything to add :)
Hi!
I will never figure out why Santorum did what he did. He was one of the most outspoken Senators on conservative issues. I had hopes that he would run for president some day. Go figure. Maybe he did want to quit. But why not just not run again? I wonder if he regrets his endorsement of Specter. I do wonder if he was just, reluctantly, supporting President Bush in his endorsement of for reasons of protocal. You know - support the incumbent. Who knows. He probably buried his chances for public office again.
Every one of your points about the Santorum - Specter debacle is valid, and true.
My point being that that one ‘political’ mistake by Santorum (it wasn’t even an issue-oriented mistake like ProLife, or taxes, or Iraq) should not have risen to the level of millions of Republicans voting for Casey Jr....
Casey Jr. is a vaccuous liberal who is 10 times worse than Specter.... so why would these conservatives vote for him.
In Santorum’s defense, there was real doubt in conservative circles that Toomey could win statewide.... and it is more pragmatic to have half a loaf than none.
Besides, “junior” US Senators always support the ‘senior’ Senator of the same party. Almost always. It might not be the 100% principaled thing to do... but it was a political calculation rather than, say..... voting to withdraw from Iraq.... or voting against US energy companies, etc.
If we as Republicans insist on allowing the perfect be the enemy of the good, we will be in the minority for decades and decades.
And that is coming from myself, who takes a backseat to no one on supporting conservative causes and issues.