From Capitolwire:

Toomey told the Union County Republican Committee dinner that by 2006, “Republican voters, and a surprising number of Democrats and independents, still believed in a less intrusive government, more freedom and lower taxes. But they did not believe the Republican Party in Washington was the best way to achieve those goals.”

Toomey, the president of the Club for Growth, which works to advance fiscal conservatism and Republican primary candidates who will work to achieve it, said: “I am extremely optimistic about the conservative movement and the future of the Republican Party. … It was absolutely not a repudiation of conservative principles. It was a repudiation of a Republican Party that in many ways had abandoned conservative principles.”

Toomey said: “The war in Iraq was very unpopular and presidential popularity was very low.”

But Toomey said: “There were factors entirely in the control of Republican House and Senate members and they can’t point a finger anywhere else. …

“First was corruption,” he said, referring to scandals or charges filed against several House members or House-GOP-tied lobbyists. “Let’s be honest: the litany got too long: [lobbyist Jack] Abramoff, [GOP Rep. Duke] Cunningham, [former House Majority Leader Tom] DeLay, [Rep. Rob] Ney, [Rep. Mark] Foley, [Rep. Don] Sherwood, [Rep. Curt] Weldon. This is a problem, because this is too long a list.

“Democrats offered no vision, and no message except ‘we’re not them,’” Toomey said. “In 2006, that was enough.”

Between the unpopularity of the war and the president, and the various scandals, the Republican-held governorships dropped from 27 to 21. The party also lost the U.S. Senate due to a tough climate for statewide Republican candidates, Toomey said.

All of this is stuff that has been echoed by a lot of us since the slaughtering that took place in November.  I still stand by the fact that I am not the least bit upset about the Republicans losing Congress, as retaining it would have only encouraged further ill behavior on their part.  The party can easily take back Congress by listening to people like Toomey.

Asked if he would run for U.S. Senate or governor in 2010, Toomey said he had plenty of time to think about such decisions and had come to no decision yet.

Told that, one supporter said: “Pat is now in a great position to run for governor: he is well-liked, hard-working, and his job nowadays introduces him to rich people across America who give lots of money to conservatives, and puts him in a position where they will like him. And remember, for governor, they can each give him $1 million. For Congress, they can give him about $5,000. That alone has to make a politician think about running for governor.”

Dinner organizer and Union County GOP committee powerbroker Yvonne Morgan said: “He is a candidate, and we hope he’ll be a candidate for governor.”

This is the other point I want to touch on.  Toomey came within one percentage point of unseating Arlen Specter in the Pennsylvania Republican Primary of 2004.  It was because of his message of principle and fiscal conservatism that resonated with the voters.  Had he not been fighting against the entrenched establishment along with former Senator Santorum and President Bush, he would have beaten the pants off of Specter in a landslide.

I wholeheartedly hope that Pat will make a run for governor in 2010.  He is the one person that can truly turn this state around and get it back on a positive track.  Pennsylvania is a dying state.  As another young adult who will shortly be another contributing member to the “Brain Drain” by fleeing the state, nothing would please me more than to see someone like Pat step in and salvage the place of my birth and make it a great state to live in once again.