Tom Ridge says he won't run for U.S. Senate in 2010

Source: Pittsburg Tribune

Tom Ridge says he won't run for U.S. Senate in 2010


By Mike Wereschagin
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, May 7, 2009


Former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge will not run for the U.S. Senate in 2010, he announced today.

"After careful consideration and many conversations with friends and family and the leadership of my party, I have decided not to seek the Republican nomination for Senate," Ridge said in a statement.

The announcement comes in the wake of polls showing Ridge could mount a stronger challenge to Republican-turned-Democratic Sen. Arlen Specter than former Republican Rep. Pat Toomey.

Pennsylvania GOP Chairman Rob Gleason had urged Ridge to run, and other top Republicans named him as a strong potential candidate.

Ridge's decision not to run leaves Toomey, a Lehigh Valley businessman, and Peg Luksik, a conservative activist from Johnstown, vying for the nomination next year. Toomey's popularity among GOP primary voters helped prompt Specter to switch his party affiliation last week.

Read more: http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/breaking/s_624101.html

Whoo-hoo! Now Arlen really is udner pressure to be more of a Dem because the challenge will come from a Dem primary if he doesn't shape up.

He doesn't appear to have the stomach for the mosh pit.

for Cheney.


People claim that rush is the leader of the GOPers. I don't agree. I think Cheney is still pulling the strings behind the scenes.

The man makes more money now then he did when he was in government. Instead of putting the blame on our popular boogey man, why not just admit that for all his positive qualities, Ridge put his wallet first.

that might get made public if I run; or

(2) No one thinks I can win against Toomey in the primary; or

(3) Everyone thinks Toomey has a better chance to beat Specter than I do; or

(4) Toomey is MUCH better connected than I am within the Republican Party.


Anyone have a Ridge to English dictionary?

You know, saying he was raising 5-1/3 kids in that little one bedroom bungalow.

...Tom Ridge had a knack for occasionally telling the truth, usually still within the strict confines of the unreality created by the Bush Administration, but nevertheless frank and damning.

He effectively threw Karl Rove's favorite toy, the fake terror warnings, into the toilet on the day he left, telling the press that he was operating under orders when he jacked the terror-o-meter up every time Bush, Rove or Cheney got in trouble.

So he's gotta pay for that, and that means no Senate seat for him.

He's smart enough to avoid that circus. BushCo nearly destroyed him when the duped him into taking the Homeland Insecurity position. He learned his lesson.

But then I also agree with HopeHoops that Bushler killed the party. And you can couple that with the continued existence of the gasbag Limpballs, who foments even more self-destruction by blowing flaming fumes at any moderate repuke who appears on the scene.

As you can see, I'm new here. I have an serious, honest, legitimate (to me, at least) question I would like some serious, honest answers.

In the interest of full disclosure, I'm a libertarian who voted for John McCain and identifies more with the American right than the left. That being said, it seems like a whole lot of people on the right are acting like a bunch of..... I won't say because I want to keep it civil. And they all seem to have their heads in their..... there, I almost did it again.

I don't like everything about Toomey but on a personal level I would prefer him to Specter or Ridge. But it seems to me that just from a political perspective and based off its recent political history the Republicans ought to consider anything coming from Pennsylvania with an (R) next to their name as a blessing. It's like beggars are trying to be choosers, which my mom always taught me didn't work well.

Any time I've tried to say so to any in the right wing crowd I'm met with an onslaught of "Oh, you don't know what you're talking about! Of course Toomey can win! Republican 'T' in the middle of the state! Santorum. Santorum! SANTORUM!" It makes me feel like I was the only one awake in 2006. Or at least the only grown up who was.

I figured this is one place I'd be sure to find a whole lot of people who have no emotional investment in Pat Toomey. Please weigh in on whether or not my analysis of the situation seems somewhere near accurate. It'll at least give me two years to sharpen up my "I told you so!"

You're one of the last of the non-hard core right wingers left in the party. A bit like Specter himself, you'll find most folks that will understand you either calling themselves "independents" or figuring out how to work with the "blue dogs". It won't last forever. I suspect the "libertarian" leaning folks are going to ultimate "take over" the GOP. Ron Paul touched a nerve he didn't know how to handle. Someone will come along who will know what to do. And they will peel alot of dems off of the fringe as well.

Democratic candidate. I hope he isn't.

Specifically, I'm thinking about the demise of the Liberal party, which reigned with decent success throughout the latter part of the 19th Century and early 20th.



The issues themselves, while very interesting (one can argue that the Liberal Party shot its wad by ending the House of Lords' ability to block legislation, but killed itself in the process) don't compare well to modern politics. Instead, look at the graph above and see how suddenly all those liberals jumped ship to the Labour Party after 1910.

For quite a while, both the Liberal and Labour parties were strong, but neither could usually muster a strong enough showing to rule without a coalition, which left the Conservatives in power much of the time. The Liberals never really went away, but they only survived because Parliamentary politics allows them a place in government long after a party has ceased to be a major contender.

So, as a Democrat I'll happily tell you to go forth and make the Libertarian Party strong, the better to confine both you and the Republicans to token resistance while we go and fix everything the Republicans fucked up. As an American, I'll tell you that the United States desperately needs a party that can cater to fiscal responsibility while sealing off the vast gush of hatred and biblically-derived stupidity--and then I'll remind you that that party is right here and in charge. And as a cynic, I'll tell you that the one thing the most evil and greedy bastards in this country requires is a party which they can control, and if the Republican Party continues its present course, the Libertarians, with their laissez faire ideology, will fit the bill perfectly. As soon as they do that, it won't be your party anymore.

I appreciate the response, both from you and from everyone else who posted.

I've actually taken the time to listen to some of the Libertarian Party and I just don't think I could strap enough tin foil to my head to fit in with some of that bunch. When Bob Barr is actually the sane, reasonable choice amongst your group, it says something.

I suppose these days it's just the impudence of the Republican party that baffles me so much. I feel like I'm riding in the front seat of a car driving 100 miles an hour at the cliff and I'm saying "Um, it might be a good idea to turn or put on the brakes or something like that," and hearing back "Where's your sense of adventure? This is gonna be fun!"

There do seem to be a few pragmatic adults left (hence the NRSC's support of Specter and then attempt to recruit Ridge) but the rank-and-file in the base just won't have any part of it. The fact that anybody anywhere ever took Mike Huckabee seriously and would cast a vote for him to be the most powerful person on Earth does damage to my faith in humanity. I'm no fan of Barack Obama. As I said in my first post, I voted for John McCain and he's still the one of the two major candidates I would prefer to be in office right now but in 2012 if the nation's not in the middle of a complete meltdown and if the Republicans nominate Huckabee, I'll go out and knock on doors for Obama. And I support the NRA.

Sorry for the vent but I needed it.

It's just that I sent what disposable income I had to these people in the last election cycle. I believe in the majority of what they claim to (up until they get in to office, but that's a whole other issue). Yet they're now at the point that I'm forced to Democrat Underground to make sure it's them (the "Toomey will clean up in Pennsylvania!" crowd) that's nuts and not me.

I need a drink.