Sen. Graham: I'm calling Ridge Wed. about running against Specter

[babylonsister]

http://briefingroom.thehill.com/2009/04/29/sen-graham-im-calling-ridge-wed-about-running-against-specter/

Sen. Graham: I'm calling Ridge Wed. about running against Specter
@ 8:44 am by Jeremy P. Jacobs


Sen. Lindsey Graham suggested Tuesday night that he will court former Pennsylvania Republican Gov. Tom Ridge to run against Sen. Arlen Specter next year now that Specter has switched to the Democratic Party.

Graham, a South Carolina Republican, plans to start with a phone call to Ridge on Wednesday.

In an interview with Greta Van Susteren on Fox News' "On the Record," Graham said he believes Ridge could appeal to moderate Republicans and independents in Pennsylvania, perhaps more than former Congressman Pat Toomey, the Republican former president of the conservative Club for Growth who is already running in the Senate contest.

"We just need to get candidates that can relate to people in different regions of the country. I hope Pat Toomey can do that, but I think Tom Ridge could," Graham said. "The former governor of Pennsylvania is a social moderate, fiscal conservative, former Homeland Security secretary. I don't know if he'd run or not, but people.'

The specter of Ridge running was raised quickly yesterday upon news of Specter's defection from the GOP. Ridge, who served as a two-term governor in the mid-1990s and in the House before that, has always been considered politically ambitious. His name was floated as a possible running mate to former President George W. Bush in 2000 and GOP nominee John McCain (Ariz.) last year.

Graham went on to say he plans to reach out to Ridge Wednesday. "I'm going to call Tom Ridge tomorrow," Graham said.

[SidDithers]

1. Good. Lots of pictures and film of Ridge and Boosh together...

Ridge has been contaminated with the Boosh stink :)

Sid

[Happyhippychick]

2. Mmmmmm....Republican Civil War.....

:popcorn:

[izquierdista]

3. I'm gonna TELL!

I get this picture in my mind of Lindsay as an obnoxious little girl, ready to go tattle to the teacher.

[lamp_shade]

4. But can he help "purify" the party?

[ClarkUSA]

5. Good! Pro-choice Ridge will get beat like a drum by Toomey in the GOP primary.

[Freddie Stubbs]

21. Pro-choice Ridge beat several pro-live candidates for the GOP gubernatorial nomination

That was when he was virtually unknown outside of NW PA.

[ClarkUSA]

25. When was that? Do you really think that'll happen in 2010?

[Freddie Stubbs]

35. Yes, considering that Ridge is much more well-known and popular now

[saltpoint]

6. Well you go ahead and just dial yourself into a dither, Lindsey.

Ridge knows that he's not the legislator type. He knows that even if he won, which is far from certain, he'd have to negotiate constantly with the likes of people who are more agile and informed on every single issue than he is.

A loss would bloody him up at a point in his career when he needs to be store-front window polished. There's no assurance that he could defeat Toomey in a GOP primary or that Toomey would just roll over and play dead if Ridge got in.

The Senate is not his venue. He'd have to feel that he could outwit and outflank people like Barbara Boxer and Russ Feingold. He'd enter as a freshman senator with little clout and minimal influence.

He likely considers himself to have gotten out of the fray while he's "ahead," and could roll in a whole lot more money as a consultant.

[ErinBerin84]

7. Andrea Greenspan

(who used to cover PA politics) said that Ridge would be a good candidate (of course Andrea), but that she doesn't think PA voters would accept him in a Republican primary.

[babylonsister]

9. So did Smerkonish on Tweety yesterday. Today's meme from

talking heads, because the r/w pols don't have a clue.

[TimesSquareCowboy]

11. That's a good point - a copy of Specter won't overcome the problem Specter saw.

[polichick]

8. Lol - suddenly a pro-choice candidate doesn't look so much like the devil.

[LynneSin]

15. which one are you refering to? Ridge and Specter are both pro-choice

A group of Catholics tried to get Ridge ex-communicated because Ridge is a pro-choice catholic

[polichick]

29. I meant Ridge - the right-wing wouldn't consider him as a running mate for McCain...

...but with Specter's switch the game suddenly looks different.

[peekaloo]

10. Maybe he can come up with one of those fancy color charts to illustrate

the level of Republican fear brought on by a Dem majority. :scared:

different shades of blue would be nice.

[Blue_Roses]

23. oh, I forgot about those stupid charts

where have they been? :eyes:

Dumbest.Thing.Ever.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

39. I'm picturing hilarious colored-coded charts to use against him in campaign ads...

if it were to come to that. Duct tape, too. They'd have to be done just right, though, so as to turn off only the intended audience.

[msongs]

12. so who will be the democrat in that race, if 2 republicans are running? nt

[yellowcanine]

13. I doubt Ridge could win a Republican primary in PA now.

The Rep Party there is officially in wing nut territory at the moment.

[LynneSin]

14. Yes but Ridge was a popular 2-term moderate governor in Pennsylvania

Mind you under Bush, i think Zombies ate his brains. But as governor he worked from the middle - he was pro-unions and pro-choice.

He would be serious competition against Specter. And on the side of irony, if Ridge won they'd be stuck with another "Specter Republican" but this one is young enough to sever a couple of terms.

[yellowcanine]

18. He has to beat Toomey first. That would be his problem and is why he won't run.

Ridge won 2 terms because he was a moderate. He can't win the Republican nomination for Senator as a moderate. The only way he beats Toomey is to go wing nut himself, which would doom him in the general election against Specter.

[blondeatlast]

16. Does Graham know Ridge is a, a, a, SOCIALIST? He's a HUGE supporter of PUBLIC

libraries, even given a Politician of the Year award by the American Library Association!

[LynneSin]

19. Does Graham know that Ridge is very Pro-Choice

not kidding you!

[blondeatlast]

32. Oh--I even forgot that! I knoiw that's true. nt

[LynneSin]

17. There's only one problem with that Mr. Graham - and that's Pat Toomey

Honestly, Ridge could give Arlen Specter a serious run for his money because those 2 are pretty much identical when it comes to political ideologies. Put them both in a race competing against each other and I think Specter would have a major challenge in front of him. Ridge was a popular 2-term governor here in PA (yes I voted for him once but only because I didn't want another anti-choice democrat after Casey Sr was out of there. BTW Casey Jr is not as harsh when it comes to choice has his old man).

But we still have Pat Toomey running for office and when it's republican only - there are enough idiot right-wing fundies out there who will back Toomey and give the republicans the win.

The leaders of the republican party want one of their own in that seat and it's Pat Toomey. If they accept Tom Ridge as their candidate instead it's basically admiting they fucked up with Specter and they would be willing to accept a 'Specter Jr' like Ridge to keep the seat republican.

[yellowcanine]

20. Watch for the national Republicans to put pressure on PA Reps to ditch Toomey.

This is going to be fun.

[LynneSin]

22. They'll give up one of their own to bring a clone of Specter to run against Specter

:rofl:

[blondeatlast]

33. I don't credit the current bunch with that much smarts. They need to focus locally

but Steele hasn't the smarts or the savvy.

[derby378]

24. No love for Rick Santorum?

I'm shocked, I tell you.

[Luminous Animal]

26. Fuck Specter: Make the pledge to support a real progressive...

to run against him in the primaries.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/I-support-a-real-progressive-against-Arlen-Specter/76951643702

http://openleft.com/diary/13081/would-you-step-up-to-help-a-progressive-challenger-to-specter

If there is a potential progressive challenger to Arlen Specter in Pennsylvania, they are probably scratching their head right now asking, "Would I have any chance at all if I ran, or is the fix in?"

What can progressives to do create an environment where this person feels they can run?

Legally, we can't put money in a pot for a fictional candidate. But we can pledge now that if a real progressive steps up, we'll get their back.

So, here's a little experiment. I just created a Facebook fan page (like a Facebook group) called "I support a real progressive against Arlen Specter."

People who join are pledging to give at least $25 to a credible progressive challenger who steps up. It'll either succeed or flop -- and that will solely be determined by whether the energy is there for people to join and pass it along to their friends.

[butterfly77]

27. I guess we are suppose to be afraid..

Ridge is another joke. I use to crack up at him as he first began in working in the Bush adm he was uninformed and they have been puffing him up for a few years now as though,he is some great savior..

[spanone]

28. tom ridge? homeland security buffoon? bring 'im on

[LynneSin]

30. He was an idiot when working for Bush but...

he was actually pretty decent as governor

[Gidney N Cloyd]

31. What's the color code for the liklihood of Ridge running?

[livetohike]

34. Duct tape and plastic sheets man? Too much Bush baggage

Let the GOP flame out in PA. Ridge won't get enough votes to win the Repub. nomination, imo.

[onenote]

36. the repub leadership realize he's more electable statewide than Toomey

[livetohike]

37. They may be assuming Ridge would garner independent votes

but I heard Gov. Rendell say a while ago that no one would beat Specter. I wonder if that applies to Spector running as a Dem. too. :shrug:

[onenote]

38. While Specter will be hard to be beat by anyone

Ridge could possibly pull it off if the repub base holds their nose and votes for him and enough Democrats sit out the election. The key would be the independents, who could divide fairly evenly.

If Toomey is the candidate, the repubs will have no trouble getting out the base, but the independent vote would be more solidly in Specter's column and more Democrats would show up if for no other reason that to ensure Toomey didn't win.