Former Pennsylvania Governor and Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge has announced he will not run for Arlen Specter’s Senate seat. Here’s Ridge’s view of where he goes next:
“Public service has long played a significant role in my life. That service does not end here. There are causes to which I remain intensely committed, including my work on behalf of the disability community, our nation’s veterans, our national security and the GOP — the party I enthusiastically joined more than four decades ago.
“To those who believe that the Republican Party is facing challenges, they are right. To those who believe the Democratic Party is without its own difficulties, they are wrong. No one party has a monopoly on all of the answers. The more important view, in my mind, is that we remember, whether Republican or Democrat, we are foremost Americans. And as Americans, we have always overcome challenges when we put partisanship aside and solutions first.
“And so my desire and intention is to help my party craft solutions that both sides of the aisle can embrace. My hope is to raise the level of civility in public debate and raise the bar on outcomes that serve our citizens fully, fairly and equally.
That certainly sounds like a guy who is done with electoral politics. Of course, only moderate Republicans talk like that - aside from Joe Lieberman, who got himself expelled from the Democratic Party as a result, you never hear Democrats talk about how no one party has a monopoly on good answers, etc.
Ridge might have been a good statewide candidate, but for reasons I explained on Tuesday, he would have been the wrong guy to run against Specter. Pat Toomey may still not have a walk to the nomination, but Ridge’s departure gives him a fairly clear frontrunner status and a chance to settle once and for all whether a conservative can still win statewide in Pennsylvania as was the case when Rick Santorum won in 1994 and 2000.
Moe Lane
bs
Caleb Howe
Dan McLaughlin
Vladimir
2012?
Thomas_Hauber Thursday, May 7th at 1:39PM EDT (link)He is leaving the door open for a VP nomination.
Fine by me
gonzo55 Thursday, May 7th at 1:57PM EDT (link)Specter, Ridge, Ridge, Specter, not sure how we even tell the difference between those two RINOs. Now that it’s clear Toomey has a real chance to win in 2010 I’m starting to get excited about him. Imagine, a pro-growth republican (sarcasm)!
“Facts are stubborn things” — Ronald Wilson Reagan
Ridge must have been tuned into Mark
peg_c Thursday, May 7th at 2:05PM EDT (link)who ripped him up and tossed the pieces in different parts of the country.
Government cannot be the solution when government is the problem.
So now the eniouses at th RNC the RSC and the PA Republican Party are pushing Gerlach over Toomey...
AceInTX Thursday, May 7th at 2:24PM EDT (link)They simply won’t abide a Conservative!
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Geniuses nt
AceInTX Thursday, May 7th at 2:36PM EDT (link)House Conservatives Fund
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eniouses works too
E Pluribus Unum Thursday, May 7th at 7:13PM EDT (link)Geniuses who can’t find their ……uh, well it sounded good in my head, I swear!
Carthago delenda est
Do your conservative t-shirt shopping at EPU Gear. Save the conservative muse, save the world.
LOL...now now...
AceInTX Thursday, May 7th at 8:13PM EDT (link)House Conservatives Fund
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What about Bob? (lol) - When is Senator Casey's (D-PA) seat up?
JLenardDetroit Thursday, May 7th at 2:33PM EDT (link)I have said several times, I want Toomey to go up against disreSpecter (for countless reasons) but I MIGHT NOT have a problem with Ridge being considered for the other (Casey) seat.
When is it up (Senate site doesn’t say when he was first elected)?
How would they match up?
While disreSpecter has ZERO of my respect as a RINO, I do have some respect for Ridge and think he is more a Red-Dog than just a RINO. (What is the difference - Red-Dog vs. RINO, actually, IMO, an important distinction)
Regards from NoMoTown (the MOTORlessCITY)
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Heil “O” Hell No Obamao is NOT MY PRESIDENT! “No U won’t”
I want “O” to FAIL (here, here, & whole Diary (Ofail) here, is why)
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Casey defeated Santorum in 2006 so he'll be up in 12 nt
AceInTX Thursday, May 7th at 2:37PM EDT (link)House Conservatives Fund
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Ridge would NOT be helpful in '12 either
JLenardDetroit Thursday, May 7th at 2:53PM EDT (link)OK, Thanks, forgot that (can’t remember everything)…. Ridge would NOT be helpful in ‘12 with the Presidential Election for the same (actually, more so for the same) obvious reasons we do not want him running for the Senate seat now.
The irrelevant coulda, shoulda, woulda, just so peeps know where I’m coming from. If he had just got in on an Election cycle last year and been up in ‘14, I think it would be OK. He has been, as best I remember, loyal to the Party to the point where I do not mind he being rewarded (HSA was an obvious Party reward, could/would he deserve another?) for his Red-Dog loyalty. Again, we must have more Conservative candidates for ‘10 and ‘12 (with the potential exceptions of within the Bluest of Blue States, again Red-Dog over RINO’s though, of course.
Regards from NoMoTown (the MOTORlessCITY)
(RS:Help) (JLD) (Hollyweird) (Brain-deads) (SPIN-cycle) (Obamaocare) (Party of kNOw) (Conservatism) (TEApeats) (respectful) (toss McCain)
Heil “O” Hell No Obamao is NOT MY PRESIDENT! “No U won’t”
I want “O” to FAIL (here, here, & whole Diary (Ofail) here, is why)
“The first Liberal was Satan” - a Rush caller (other Quotes)
I don't have anything against Ridge per se either aside from the fact...
AceInTX Thursday, May 7th at 3:33PM EDT (link)that the squishes in the NRSC and the PA Republican Party, the RNC, McCain and Graham were pushing him to screw Toomey…now that Ridge is out they’ll go all out to push Gerlach and kneecap Toomey for the General because they doon’t want to have to deal with the possibility of a Toomey win putting the lie to their “Conservatives can’t win in the NE” Meme
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yes, depends how North and how East
JLenardDetroit Thursday, May 7th at 4:43PM EDT (link)PA is Purple, at best - NOT Blue (RS:Exporting/Expanding BLUE-ism)…. I think you’ve been in on this discussion already elsewhere. We agree, we need a CONSERVATIVE in that race there right now - now is the perfect time (contrasts) for that in PA.
We also both agree - The National level entities need to BUTT OUT of the who is in the Primary! They MUST step-up for the General Election to help, of course. Trouble is, of course and as we know, they (except Steele and RNC, I really think they will want to go after disreSpecter) won’t want to bother if it isn’t their first choice…. While none of us like the 2nd, 4th, or 12th Choice (think McCain lol) - we have got to get over that sitting it out problem handing Democrats victories we could win!
And I will NOT support an all out RINO in any location, no matter how Blue the State - they have to be a Red-Dog. (RS:Red-Dog v RINO)
Take care,
Regards from NoMoTown (the MOTORlessCITY)
(RS:Help) (JLD) (Hollyweird) (Brain-deads) (SPIN-cycle) (Obamaocare) (Party of kNOw) (Conservatism) (TEApeats) (respectful) (toss McCain)
Heil “O” Hell No Obamao is NOT MY PRESIDENT! “No U won’t”
I want “O” to FAIL (here, here, & whole Diary (Ofail) here, is why)
“The first Liberal was Satan” - a Rush caller (other Quotes)
Agreed PA is Purple
naraht Thursday, May 7th at 5:16PM EDT (link)While Philly is just as blue as Baltimore or NYC, it doesn’t dominate the population of the state the way that they do (well Baltimore gets help from the DC suburbs). The Rural sections of Pennsylvania are very Red, the Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton area is Reddish Purple and Erie leans slightly Blue. However, the Key is Pittsburgh and its suburbs (more or less the southern half of the western third of the state). If you have a Republican who can take a good chunk there, he can win.
It’s why the Democrats were so interested in having Franco Harris run against Specter before the switch…
PA: Lynn Swann? - IL: Mike Ditka
JLenardDetroit Friday, May 8th at 2:55AM EDT (link)What about Lynn Swann for something again?
As I said in Blago and the Senate Diary, updated a few times, Mike Ditka should step up again.
Regards from NoMoTown (the MOTORlessCITY)
(RS:Help) (JLD) (Hollyweird) (Brain-deads) (SPIN-cycle) (Obamaocare) (Party of kNOw) (Conservatism) (TEApeats) (respectful) (toss McCain)
Heil “O” Hell No Obamao is NOT MY PRESIDENT! “No U won’t”
I want “O” to FAIL (here, here, & whole Diary (Ofail) here, is why)
“The first Liberal was Satan” - a Rush caller (other Quotes)
my issue is with the fact that leaders from the state to national level
AceInTX Thursday, May 7th at 8:09PM EDT (link)are actively working to kneecap the most likely nominee and if Toomey looses his opponent will be so beaten up Specter will win unless the Democrats primary him which is looking likely since he’s pissed them off to no end since his switch…
As for:
Who was worse…the Nazis who over ran France or the Vichy government who enabled them…we have a bunch of suicide bombers in our party sabotaging every effort we make to distinguish ourselves from the Democrats and we’re told we need to just knuckle under and support them when after they’ve torpedoed us…I’VE HAD ENOUGH!!!
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Understandable
JLenardDetroit Friday, May 8th at 2:49AM EDT (link)and I have felt that way many days. I am done with RINOs, which is why I have introduced that Red-Dog distinction. There has to be a two-way loyalty… It is sad that the Party that is supposed to be espousing LOCAL IS BEST wants to force TOP DOWN when it comes to Primaries - I can see it when there is no-one stepping up. They are certainly more than free to float a name, but they need to query the grass-roots on it - and I think we do sometimes overreact to the trial-balloons launched to test the winds (I think Ridge may have been that) but given the reaction they should COMPLETELY back off and butt out this cycle - PA and the Nation is behind Toomey to rematch disreSpecter — they have to be completely deaf, dumb, and blind to not get that… Yes, good possibility they are all 3.
Regards from NoMoTown (the MOTORlessCITY)
(RS:Help) (JLD) (Hollyweird) (Brain-deads) (SPIN-cycle) (Obamaocare) (Party of kNOw) (Conservatism) (TEApeats) (respectful) (toss McCain)
Heil “O” Hell No Obamao is NOT MY PRESIDENT! “No U won’t”
I want “O” to FAIL (here, here, & whole Diary (Ofail) here, is why)
“The first Liberal was Satan” - a Rush caller (other Quotes)
I Like Ridge, I Think He Was Our Best Shot
DavidSage Thursday, May 7th at 6:59PM EDT (link)I’m disappointed Ridge isn’t running, I think we would have had a much better shot wining that Senate seat. I don’t want to offend anyone, but despite the fact I love Toomey on the issues, I think he’s a long-shot to win that Senate seat.
I consider Ridge to be a conservative on most big picture issues, certainly better than Specter, and a good fit for the kind of Republican that can win statewide in what I consider to be a reliably blue state. He’s sort of Giuliani-type Republican. Pennsylvania has not gone “Red” at the Presidential level in over 20 years. I think Republicans that do really well at the ballot box in states or districts that traditionally don’t vote Republican shouldn’t be so quickly dismissed. Our agenda can’t get passed if we don’t win, and in a state that usually votes Democrat, I think you go with who can win.
I think Toomey’s best shot is if Specter gets denied the nomination and there’s a bloody Democrat primary battle. I think conservatives need to start planning now for a “operation chaos 2.0″ for the Dem primary.
After seeing how bad Santorum did, losing by nearly 20 percentage points, I’m amazed so many here are excited about Toomey’s chances to win. Do you really think Toomey is that much better of a politician than Santorum? Are the demographics and attitudes of Pennsylvanians going to change by 20 percentage points in our favor?
I hope it works out, and Toomey wins, but I consider Toomey to be of the same mold as Santorum, and that type of Republican tends not to do well at the ballot box in blue states, even if they’re “right” on the issues.
I think the great recession gives Toomey an advantage over Santorum for one. Number two
Mike gamecock DeVine Thursday, May 7th at 7:17PM EDT (link)Obama’s broken promises add to that and three, Toomey doesn’t have the record that Santorum and, for that matter, Ridge has, that makes it easier for the msm to attack
The main point is that the combination of the economic circumstance and history should make the difference between Ridge and Toomey quite insignificant in 2006.
Mike DeVine’s Examiner.com, Charlotte Observer and The Minority Report columns
“One man with courage makes a majority.” - Andrew Jackson
I Hope You're Right
DavidSage Thursday, May 7th at 7:37PM EDT (link)I just don’t think 2010 is going to be like 1994, where Republicans just destroy Democrats everywhere. There were a lot of other factors at play in 1994, like an enormous amount of retirements, in addition to the South finally throwing the Democrats overboard for good. I don’t see all the stars lining up like that in 2010. I think we’ll gain seats in both Houses, but I think the Democrats will still unfortunately run the show. We’ll be lucky if we can just filibuster after the 2010 election.
I do think this economy is going to get much worse, and Obama’s response will only prolong the recession/depression. Obama’s numbers will come down substantially by 2010, and be a drag on his Party.
My fear is that the economy may get so bad that voters are so scared that they vote Democrat because they want to be “taken care of, as illogical as that sounds.
1932 and 1980 were the ones I was thinking of - nt
Mike gamecock DeVine Thursday, May 7th at 8:36PM EDT (link)Mike DeVine’s Examiner.com, Charlotte Observer and The Minority Report columns
“One man with courage makes a majority.” - Andrew Jackson
DavidSage...please read this...
Aaron Gardner Thursday, May 7th at 7:40PM EDT (link)This is a great article from the American Spectator. In it you will see that the last 3 Presidential elections the GOP actually took PA and the presidency, were Bush 88 Reagan 84 and Reagan in 80….in the two Reagan elections Reagan actually beat Specter in votes.
You may ask why I bring this up…well I bring this up because Toomey is a Reaganite…and the people of PA responded well to Reagan and this can be transformed into support for Toomey.
Anyhow read the article I linked and tell me what you think.
Aaron’s Archive
conform and celebrate diversity….or else!!!
Good Riddance!
Jim Thursday, May 7th at 9:40PM EDT (link)No more mushy, middle-of-the-road RINOs.
“On the free market, everyone earns according to his productive value in satisfying consumer desires. Under statist distribution, everyone earns in proportion to the amount he can plunder from the producers.”
Murray Rothbard