According to an ancient proverb, those whom the gods wish to destroy, they first make mad. Perhaps that is what is happening to the conservative movement.
They are talking up Newt Gingrich and Sarah Palin as possible presidential candidates in 2012. My view is that anybody named for a type of salamander has no hope of being elected president, ditto for someone with the brains of a salamander.
And now they have talked up Pat Toomey enough that he has decided to enter the Republican primary for Arlen Specter's seat in the Senate.
Last go around, I met Mr. Toomey and to my great surprise I found that I liked him a lot. He is smart, knowledgeable and a nice guy. I disagree with him on almost every issue but I was impressed by his cordiality and intelligence. Because of these traits and because he is closer to the aggrieved Republican base these days, I expect that he will beat Specter in 2010.
But then what?
Democrats outnumber Republicans by a large margin in Pennsylvania, an advantage that grew during the Bush years as moderates fled the GOP in shame and frustration.
Barring the recession worsening or some other disaster, I predict that Toomey will beat Specter in the 2010 primary but lose to any Democrat in the fall. He's too far right to succeed in the General Election and he won't be given any points on the left for being a nice guy.
It's true: Specter does not toe the Republican line all the time but he isn't a Democrat either. Should Republicans go with the devil they know or their ideological angel whom many voters will only know as trouble?
To put it another way, have conservatives been driven so mad already that they don't recognize that they could give the Democrats another easy seat in the Senate?
After I wrote this blog entry, Specter came to see us here at the PG. As the session was conducted off the record, as meetings of the editorial board sometimes are, I cannot give you chapter and verse, but I can say that he was in top form and gave ample proof why Republicans would be foolish to abandon him.
Posted
Apr 16 2009, 03:05 PM
by
Reg Henry