Tom Ridge Emerges As Media/ Beltway Republican Favorite To Replace Arlen Specter
Which absolutely baffles me.
It seems to me that the problem with the Republican party is that they’ve lost the trust of the base. The GOP is in a situation where the rank-and-file members of the party simply don’t think the party’s national leadership represents their ideals and principles any more. Because of this, when a staunch fiscal conservative like Pat Toomey announced a challenge to a wishy-washy liberal Republican like Arlen Specter the Republican base in Pennsylvania responded. Right before Specter defected to the Democrats, Toomey was beating Specter in a head-to-head poll by 20 points.
So now that Specter has been driven out, what does the GOP do? Do they listen to the base that threw its support behind Toomey? No. They bad-mouth Toomey, and try to push Tom Ridge in as the replacement for Specter.
Tom Ridge. Who, frankly, is a liberal Republican who would govern in the Senate in a fashion not all that unlike Specter.
The Republican party needs to change, but it is becoming more and more clear that the party doesn’t want to change.
