Blog @ MoreWhat.com

Ridge May Run for Specter’s Senate Seat
By Chris Cillizza W
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Former Pennsylvania governor Tom Ridge (R) is seriously considering a 2010 bid for the Senate seat held by Republican-turned-Democrat Arlen Specter and will make his decision in the next two weeks, according to several sources familiar with his thinking.

Ridge is perhaps the state’s most decorated Republican, having held a House seat for more than a decade, spent eight years as governor and served as the first secretary of homeland security under President George W. Bush. He was also mentioned as a possible vice presidential pick for Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) in 2008.

If he ran, he would almost certainly face primary opposition from former congressman Pat Toomey, a conservative who came within two points of knocking off Specter in the 2004 Republican primary. Toomey has made it clear that he is in the race regardless of whether Ridge, who is considered to be a moderate, runs.

Probably best known outside of Pennsylvania as the first Secretary of Homeland Security, Tom Ridge is a Viet Nam era veteran, former Erie County Assistant DA, former six term US Congressman and former Governor of the state of Pennsylvania. With all the scrutiny these days on candidates’ military service his record may be a target for opponents as well as his pro-choice Republican stance if he eventually runs for the Senate seat held by Specter the defector in 2010.

With Toomey still a question mark versus Arlen Specter as well as the renegade antics of Rep Sestak (D-PA) who is the highest ranking former military officer to serve in Congress (retired US Navy rear admiral) the impact of Specter’s move to the Democratic party will be analyzed for some time to come.

Sestak also said he would not let Democratic leaders in Washington push him out of the race. President Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) have promised to raise money for Specter and campaign on his behalf during the 2010 Democratic primary.

Wikipedia includes a criticism of Sestak from Americans Against Hate for speaking at a fundraiser for CAIR based on ties to Hamas and another for his demands on staff to work hours that are excessive by Capitol Hill standards. He has lost 13 staffers for his ‘toughness’ philosophy requiring 14 hour days seven days a week.

Pat Toomey has been a GOP Congressman from PA for ten years.

Polling suggests that Ridge would be more competitive than Toomey against Specter, who left the GOP last week, in a general election. In a new survey by Quinnipiac University, Specter leads Ridge by a narrow margin of 46 percent to 43 percent, while he holds a 20-point margin over Toomey.

“This is a statement of the obvious fact that Pat Toomey is not yet well known by statewide general-election voters,” Toomey communications director Nachama Soloveichik said about the Quinnipiac numbers. “Where he is well known, by general-election voters in the swing 15th District and by statewide Republicans, he is overwhelmingly popular.”

Aside from the added majority voting strength suggested by Specter officially defecting to the Democratic party this move is still viewed as a wild card for liberals given the record of this Senator. For now, the outcome of the 2010 election for this senate seat may have nothing but upside for the GOP. If the challengers do not succeed Specter may become a drag on the Democratic party. If Ridge or Toomey win it would cement the upside for Republicans. If Sestak would continue and defeat Specter it may still be a net gain for the GOP. Of course it could simply remain as it is now. Nothing more than a confirmation that Specter was never a conservative and offered nothing of value to the Republican party.

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 5th, 2009 at 1:03 pm and is filed under Public Affairs, wordpress, Politics, GOP, Democrats, conservative, liberal, Specter, Opinion, Congress. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.