The fact that Senator Santorum is losing to Bob Casey Jr. speaks volumes about how badly he has angered the base in PA. Here is a hilarious exchange between the Philly Inquirer and Jr. courtesy of Powerline:
Everyone’s favorite RINO came to my school, Drexel University, yesterday morning. I had to cover it for my newspaper, The Evening Bulletin. You can read what he had to say here, but let me sum it up for you.
*We’re ugly Americans and the solution to the North Korea and Iran situations is to show the countries more respect and dignity.
*We need to spend $7 billion more in education.
*Funding for the National Institute of Health should be incrased from $12 to $29 billion.
*Stem cell research is the “available fountain of youth.”
*Cancer would have been cured had we appropriated more in research in the 1970s.
*The Constitutional right of habeas corpus should apply to enemy combatants like prisoners in Guantanamo Bay.
*Election Day should be held on Sunday, but not Saturday mind you because that’s a Jewish religious day.
*The president should be elected by popular vote [conservative translation: liberal cities get to choose the president.]
*Public policy should be controlled by moderates, and not “extremists.”
*Independents should be able to vote in party primaries so moderates like himself and Lincoln Chafee shouldn’t be threatened by “extremists.”
*The best of all, you waited for it: the definition of a moderate is someone with an “open mind.”
This is one of those neat little quizzes where you answer a few questions and then it tells you who your ideal candidate is for President in 2008. It lists the top 25. I got a 100% for Tom Tancredo.
Rank Item
(100%) 1: Rep. Tom Tancredo (R) Information
(98%) 2: Sen. Majority Leader Bill Frist (R) Information
(89%) 3: Ex-Rep. Newt Gingrich (R) Information
(89%) 4: Sen. Sam Brownback (R) Information
(88%) 5: Sen. George Allen (R) Information
(78%) 6: Ex-Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) Information
(77%) 7: Sen. John McCain (R) Information
(73%) 8: Gov. Mitt Romney (R) Information
(69%) 9: Gov. George Pataki (R) Information
(68%) 10: Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) Information
(65%) 11: Sec. Condoleezza Rice (R) Information
(64%) 12: Gov. Bill Richardson (D) Information
(64%) 13: Sen. Chuck Hagel (R) Information
(62%) 14: Sen. Evan Bayh (D) Information
(60%) 15: Ex-Gov. Mark Warner (D) Information
(49%) 16: Ex-Sen. John Edwards (D) Information
(43%) 17: Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D) Information
(42%) 18: Sen. Hillary Clinton (D) Information
(42%) 19: Sen. Joseph Biden (D) Information
(41%) 20: Sen. Christopher Dodd (D) Information
(39%) 21: Ex-Gen. Wesley Clark (D) Information
(37%) 22: Gov. Tom Vilsack (D) Information
(35%) 23: Sen. Russ Feingold (D) Information
(34%) 24: Ex-VP Al Gore (D) Information
(30%) 25: Sen. John Kerry (D) Information
I saw this article on Real Clear Politics today that clarified what most of us have been saying for months. Chafee and Whitehouse are basically the same guy. The only difference is that they have different letters next to their names on the ballot.
Mark and I both worked pretty hard on the Toomey race in 2004. The establishment laughed at the idea that Pat would actually be a contender but they were soon eating crow when he came within a percent and a half of picking off Arlen Specter in the Republican Primary. Since that time Pat has earned a great deal of respect among Pennsylvania’s political elite and has become a conservative icon not just here, but across the country. There is no doubt in my mind that he will be running again come 2010, but will he have to fight the party again? That all depends on Rick Santorum.
We all know Rick is in the fight for his political life this year, running a race for reelection in which he has yet to come out above his opponent in any poll this entire season. Rick is the left’s number one target and is vehemently despised by their base for his outspoken conservativism. The problem is that Rick isn’t exactly the brash fireball he used to be when he told us all to “join the fight” 16 years ago during his first bid for Congress. While he still has a good voting record for the conservative cause, anyone who takes a closer look at his record can plainly see he has drifted left over the years and isn’t as solid as he used to be. That is the real problem Rick is facing this year. A lot of what used to be his base feels he sold out to Washington and his backing of Specter in the 2004 primary has really scarred him. If he loses in two weeks, which is panning out to be the end result, it will be because his based abandoned him for these reasons. However, the media won’t portray it that way.
Rick will have lost because he is too conservative to once again win a statewide race in a moderate state like Pennsylvania. At least, that’s what the New York Times will say. The question is what will the powers-that-be of the State GOP say and what will a Santorum loss mean for Toomey in ‘10? If the conventional wisdom of a state party that isn’t very wise subscribes to the myth that conservatism can’t cut it in Pennsylvania anymore then Toomey is going to have to fight a double battle when the times come.
This is what concerns me most about this Senate race and why I will be voting for Rick Santorum on November 7th.
Bill Quick of Daily Pundit has declared that he will not be voting Republican this election. In defense of his decision he offers “The List”.
I don’t agree with everything on this list, but I certainly agree with the bulk of it. Some of the comments to this post are very interesting and represent both sides of the issue.