Mr. Tom Ridge, Sen. Tom Ridge? (McCain, house seat, Congress, candidacy)

[thecoalman]

I like the sound of that.

Ironically Specter switching to the Democrats in a last ditch effort to save his seat could actually cause the Dems to lose the seat and Specter in the election. Enter Tom Ridge. LOL

washingtonpost.com
Former Pennsylvania governor Tom Ridge (R) is seriously considering a 2010 bid for the Senate seat held by Republican-turned-Democrat Arlen Specter and will make his decision in the next two weeks, according to several sources familiar with his thinking.
This Story

Ridge is perhaps the state's most decorated Republican, having held a House seat for more than a decade, spent eight years as governor and served as the first secretary of homeland security under President George W. Bush. He was also mentioned as a possible vice presidential pick for Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) in 2008.

........


Polling suggests that Ridge would be more competitive than Toomey against Specter, who left the GOP last week, in a general election. In a new survey by Quinnipiac University, Specter leads Ridge by a narrow margin of 46 percent to 43 percent, while he holds a 20-point margin over Toomey.

Cya Arlen nice to know you.

[chielgirl]

i wouldn't count on it.
PA citizens had to live through his governorship.

[thecoalman]

You talking about the same Tom ridge that never lost an election ? Elected to State Rep 6 times and elected governor twice?

Tom Ridge - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

He became Assistant District Attorney in Erie County, Pennsylvania in 1980 and prosecuted 86 cases in two years. In 1982 he successfully ran for northwestern Pennsylvania's seat in Congress, and was re-elected six times. Ridge was notable as the first enlisted Vietnam combat veteran elected to the U.S. House. As of 2009, Ridge has never lost an election for public office.

In 1994, despite being little-known outside of northwest Pennsylvania, Ridge ran for governor of Pennsylvania, winning the election as a pro-choice . He was reelected in 1998 with 57 percent of the vote in a four-way race. Ridge's share of the vote was the highest for a Republican governor in Pennsylvania (where Democrats outnumber Republicans by almost 500,000) in more than half a century. Ridge served as Governor until his resignation to become the Director of Homeland Security in 2001.

He's almost tied with Specter now in the polls and he's not even running.

[golfgod]

Ridge is excellent, too bad the "base" wouldn't let McCain pick him for VP. Ridge would have the same primary problem that Specter had, getting past the religious-club for growth-party of no candidate, Toomey. Good luck with that.

Right wing Rs win primaries, but in "progressive" states they can't win general elections.

golfgod

[Caladium]

I would enjoy seeing a race between Specter and Ridge, they both have thought-provoking things to say and there's nothing like a heated race to bring out interesting statements. And promises will be made, which means whoever wins, the state of PA will ultimately be the winner.

[skoro]

If the GOP would actually support a Ridge candidacy, that might be an early signal that rationaity is beginning to get a toehold on the party. From all appearances though, I seriously doubt the Republicans would ever back Tom Ridge for any office. He's pro-choice. The whackaloons in control of the GOP hate him. That's the reason MCain wasn't allowed to pick him for VP last year.

[maf763]

Agree with the last three posters. A Ridge-Specter match would be intriguing but Ridge would have the same issues with getting party backing that Specter would have had. I suspect that a good chunk of Toomey's support is coming from outside the state and would give him a leg up over Ridge in a primary.