"It's a wonderful country, this America. It's called a secret ballot," former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge said Thursday -- as he refused to pledge his support to former Congressman Pat Toomey over recent Republican-turned-Democratic incumbent Arlen Specter for his homestate's 2010 Senate race.
Ridge's comment came in response to this question posed by MSNBC's Chris Matthews: "If you had to vote between Toomey, the conservative Republican, or Specter, the ex-Republican, who would you vote for?"
With his refusal, Tom Ridge made clear that he really is through with electoral politics -- because he'll never, ever earn the support of conservative Republicans again.
Sadly, I wish I could say Ridge's refusal to back Toomey is inexplicable.
But it's not.
It's par for the course.
So-called "moderate" Republicans frequently refuse to back more conservative Republicans -- even when the conservative triumphs in a primary contest.
"They can't win," the moderates complain.
And then, when the conservatives lose -- at least in part because the moderates didn't vote for them in the general election -- the moderates claim validation of their argument.
"See? We told you he was too conservative to win."
Flip answers like Ridge's help explain why conservatives are just as happy to do without moderate Republicans -- why, in the words of many, the answer to Arlen Specter's defection was "good riddance."
The irony is that, just a few moments before committing his act of perfidy, Ridge had called upon the GOP to be "less judgmental" and "more expansive."
Here's the entire exchange, which took place at the end of an interview at the top of Matthews' Thursday "Hardball" show:
Ridge: "I do hope that my party, at some point in time, is less judgmental, is more expansive -- "
Matthews: "Hardball time. Can Toomey beat a Democrat?"
Ridge: "(Long pause.) Depends who the Democrat is."
Matthews: "Could he beat Specter, the switcher?"
Ridge: "Eh, I don't know. I don't know. It depends on the nature of his campaign. But I think he's going to have a primary -- "
Matthews: "Who you votin' for?"
Ridge: "Well, I'm going to wait and see who's in the primary."
Matthews: "No, if you had to vote between Toomey, the conservative Republican, or Specter, the ex-Republican, who would you vote for?"
Ridge: "It's a wonderful country, this America. It's called a secret ballot."
![[RSS]](http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/templates/images/rss_icon.gif){kind=icon}
![[ARCHIVES]](http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/templates/images/archives_icon.png){kind=icon}
Comments
Why should you expect him to endorse Pat Toomey when he has much more in common on the issues with Arlen Specter?
Posted by: kind67
| May 8, 2009 10:24 AM
Let me get this straight: ultra right wing knee-jerk Republicans begin to attack 'so-called moderate' Republican Tom Ridge even before he declares he may or may not run for U.S. Senate. And I'm supposed to be surprised that Ridge wouldn't endorse knee-jerk rightwinger Pat Toomey for U.S. Senate? You've got to be kidding me. Only totally out of touch, ultra rightwing knee-jerk Republicans could possibly be expecting a Ridge endorsement...
Posted by: mag_amberson
| May 9, 2009 4:33 AM
Post A Comment