Specter Could Still Face Serious Primary Challenge
Club For Growth wingnut Patrick Toomey, who almost knocked off US Sen. Arlen Specter last time, is reconsidering his decision not to challenge Specter in 2010.
The reason? All together now…Specter’s vote for the stimulus package. Presumably b/c Pennsylvania’s just rolling in cash and new jobs:
Toomey had been publicly mulling a run for governor in 2010, but he told talk-radio host Bobby Gunther Walsh just how much he objected to the stimulus bill: “Senator Specter cast the deciding vote on the very worrisome stimulus Bill, when he could have negotiated with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and President Obama for more productive tax cuts and less wasteful spending.”
If he runs, Toomey will likely win the primary as most of the moderates have been run off from the Republican Party in Pa. Flip another seat to the D’s.
And the Troglodytes continue their march to political extinction.
They are shrinking themselves down to the core crazies.
El Somnambulo was taught that when your enemies engage in a circular firing squad, watch from a safe distance and enjoy the carnage.
He thinks that it’s at least possible that the national Rethuglican Party as we know it may actually cease to exist, replaced by the regionally-based R’s and…something else, he knows not what.
So, what if a Democrat does win the seat? How is that any different from what we have now?
Senator Spector’s only useful vote is for Senate organization. Unless there’s a real chance that the GOP will recover the majority in 2010, that vote is meaningless as well. Might as well have someone who is honest about being a Democrat than someone who lies about being a Republican.
In 2004, I voted for Mr Toomey in the primary, and when it was obvious that Senator Specter was going to defeat Joe Hoeffel, I voted for Jim Clymer, the Constitution Party candidate, in the general election. I am very proud of those votes.
They’re Whigging out.
Dana, El Somnambulo LIKES your thinking.
El Somnambulo “thinks that it’s at least possible that the national Rethuglican Party as we know it may actually cease to exist, replaced by the regionally-based R’s and…something else, he knows not what.” I’d point out here that people were singing the funeral dirge for the Democrats not all that long ago.
Dana’s right. And there’s always a period of bitter recrimination when one party loses power, and there’s a battle over the heart and soul of the Party.
But, as of now, the R’s are being relegated to a regional party (as the D’s were in the northeast & California during their troubled times), essentially the old south, Utah, and Idaho. And even the Utah governor is feuding with the Rethug congress over the stimulus.
And the push for ideological purity, as embodied by Dana’s first comment, is not about to broaden the GOP’s appeal.
That’s why what’s happening to the R’s, and happening so quickly, fascinates the political scientist in ‘Bulo.
Get rid of that RINO Dana. Go for it!
Also, the Dems had national leaders waiting in the wings and a record for successful governance in the 90’s.
The repubs have George Bush’s failures and no national leaders who weren’t also Bush worshippers. Repubs showed that they couldn’t and can’t govern. They had their chance and they blew it in every way possible.
Even now, they have no bench. None.
As for Spector, despite his talk, when did he ever vote against Bush on anything of consequence? He never did.
Replacing Specter with a Democrat will make a big difference. I hope Dana convinces all his Republican friends to vote for Toomey.
Dana’s right that there was a battle for the heart & soul of the Democratic party not that long ago. That’s why I empathize with the Republicans’ struggle right now. The problem the Democrats had was that they went too far right (triangulating) and Dean’s “Democratic wing of the Democratic party” took back over. We’ve had great success since then. The Republicans also went too far right with Bush, and going further right will not help them at all. I’m sure many Republicans still think the U.S. is a “center right” nation when it isn’t.
As A1 points out, Specter has tried to walk a fine line for a long time as a “moderate” and as a Bush-backing Republican. I think in the new age of YouTube and blogs it’s much harder for people like Specter (and Castle) to say one thing to one audience and another thing to another audience.
Don’t forget Wyoming!
The porn belt.
“I am very proud of those votes.”
Why would you ever NOT be proud of a vote? If you weren’t proud, you wouldn’t cast the vote, would you?
“The porn belt.”
Would that be a codpiece?
Sen Specter should retire.
Toomey is not a wingnut, he happens to hold different beliefs than the radicals at this site.
Did I say Specter should retire.
Oh, if Pennsylvania is awash in jobs and cash perhaps they can rescue Philadelphia which is in crisis mode. Pennsylvania is running a serious budget shortfall and Philly has no chance of balancing its budget.
You guys need a fact checker.
Perhaps you need a better sarcasm detector, Rebuild.
Uh, Rebuild, perhaps El Somnambulo was being too subtle, but when he wrote:
“Presumably b/c Pennsylvania’s just rolling in cash and new jobs…”
he thought that intelligent readers could discern that he was being ironic.
And, indeed, intelligent readers of all political stripes did.
Senator Specter is a RINO, through and through. We even have Vice President Joe Biden telling us that:
So do we all, Mr Biden, so do we all.
Geezer asked:
Alas! To my eternal shame, I voted for Jimmy Carter in 1976. At the time, I thought it was the right thing to do, but as I grew older and wiser, and former President Carter has continued to make an ass of himself, I have become deeply ashamed of that vote.
Keep kicking people out guys. Yeah, that’s the ticket.
Be careful what you wish for DE Libs. Toomey may well win that seat.
Mr Anderson wrote:
From your keyboard to God’s monitor!