State of the Senate right now

[Bleeding heart conservative, HTMLdon]

Specter has been the Senator from PA for a long time and has won with comfy margins and is by all accounts - even by most Toomey supporters - a stronger candidate against Hoffel.  The problem is that if Toomey was the nominee, half his potential voters (moderates in suburban Philly) will be alienated from him and the Dems will win.  How many times does a freakishly conservative candidate (Simon, Shallenberger, etc.) have to lose a race that we could have easily won with a more moderate candidate for you folks to realize that Republicans win when we match the hopes, dreams, and aspirations of the voters - not just nominate candidates who are hardcore ideologues.  Thank heavens there was no primary for the California recall race otherwise you guys probably would have screwed that up too.

I disagree on PA's Senate race.  No conservative will vote Specter.  If he is the nominee, half his potential voters will be alienated from the GOP Senate candidate and the Dems will win.

[Bleeding heart conservative, HTMLdon]

Well there you have it - you'd rather have a Democrat in the Senate than a Republican who is so "liberal" that he's been endorsed by the NRA, President Bush, Dick Cheney, and "lefties" like Rick Santorum.

I'll take Specter's Souter over Hoffel's Ginsberg any day.  I'd take either one over Toomey's Roy Moore.

My priority here is REPUBLICANS WINNING.  If we all had the same priority, we could do a lot more good for America.

I'd rather lose to Hoeffel than win with Specter.  Do some research on Specter's activities on judicial nominations over the years.  Then ponder this.

Orrin hatch, the chairman of the judiciary committee, is term limited by Senate rules from serving in that post beyond 2006.  Guess who is next in line for the job?  Arlen Specter.  Specter will give us Souters and Stevensons when Bush has to appoint replacements for Supreme Court judges.

Specter is no mere moderate.  he was labeled by National Review as the worst Republican Senator.  Worse than Lincoln Chafee, who opposed tax cts and the Iraq War.  Specter is a true RINO.

[Bleeding heart conservative, HTMLdon]

Kansas went pretty heavily for Bush in 2000.  Now they've got a Democrat Governor cause we nominated someone that was too conservative for KANSAS   But I guess that was still a victory for you, eh?

At least you are supporting Mel in Florida, though I wish Mark Foley would have stayed in the race.

I agree we have a shot in IL if we play our cards right, but NV is hopeless after all our first, second, third, fourth, and fifth tier candidates dropped out.

I've already said, I think Toomey will win and is a better candidate than Specter.

I also think the Republicans are the favorites in Colorado, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Florida if they nominate Mel Martinez.  All these states went to bush in 2000.

We also have a shot in Illinois and Nevada.

I have no expectations of losing the Seante, with or without the Pennsylvania seat.

[Bleeding heart conservative, HTMLdon]

The #1 job of the Republican Party is to elect Republicans.  Period.

If you aren't helping to elect Republicans, you're electing Democrats.

I have no interest in butt-slapping... but I think your interest in back-stabbing is rather unhealthy.

The Republican Party should not be one big team where we slap each other on the butt after a three yard gain.

We are a movemnet, and we are trying to cange the country.

[Bleeding heart conservative, HTMLdon]

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The job of Conservatives is to make the country more conservative in the long run.  The job of folks such as myself is to make the country better in the long run.  The job of the Republican party is to make the country more Republican in the long run, because the Republican Party is comprised of far more than just the far-right.

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Though I think that Campaign Finance Deform is one of the most evil things that has ever been unleashed upon our nation - and I confronted him about it at a CFR event - Chris Shays is a good Republican and should stay right where he is.  Connecticut would only replace him with a Democrat.

[Bleeding heart conservative, HTMLdon]

Right on the Mark, Mark!

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[Bleeding heart conservative, HTMLdon]

AMEN.

We know what happens when the Republican Party decides to say, "Screw Reality, Lets Nominate an Ideologue and be a Movement"...

Its called Goldwater...and 6 states.

Go ahead and try, but don't expect us moderates to clean up your mess.

[Bleeding heart conservative, HTMLdon]

Someone catch me... I'm about to faint.  Speechless really.

"Too many moderates"... well.. just you wait.. we're only going to get bigger and bigger and bigger...

I don't see how any Republican could support a Democrat having a better chance at winning the seat.

AMEN.

We know what happens when the Republican Party decides to say, "Screw Reality, Lets Nominate an Ideologue and be a Movement"...

Its called Goldwater...and 6 states.

Go ahead and try, but don't expect us moderates to clean up your mess.

you guys are just plain wrong.  It is one senator and it is only a big deal because of the position he is in line to get if he wins reelection.  We have too many moderates in the party now - but no one is trying to get rid of them.  I dont see how any Republican could support Specter.  There is just a laundry list of reasons not to.  

[Bleeding heart conservative, HTMLdon]

President Bush seems to be comfortable with him.  Vice-President Cheney seems to be comfortable with him.  Senator Santorum seems to be comfortable with him.  If they are comfortable, I'm comfortable with him.

I am sure you will love Specter if he becomes Judicary Cmte. chairman and rejects a Bush SCOTUS nomiantion because they are too conservative for him.  (assuming GWB wins again).  or appeals court judges for that matter

IF you see Specter as Judicary chairman i think you guys will realize what this is about......if it wasnt for the fact of what he is going to become in the Senate, frankly i wouldnt care if beat Toomey or not.

[Bleeding heart conservative, HTMLdon]

So you are more supportive of Democrats than Republicans.  I see exactly where you stand.

Rococo is right.

We are not tryingn to purge moderates.  There is no desire from me to oust Schwarzenegger form me out here in CA.  Mitt Romeny in MA, Pataki in NY, all fine with me, because that is the best we can hope for.  However, this is a special case.  Specter will cause more harm than a freshmen Democrat because of the power he will have.  Also, this is a state that just re-elected Rick Santorum.  They will, of course, elect Toomey if we send him up.

And by the way guys, the last time we tried to be a movement we won 49 states.

Thanks for the backup......good points about Romney, Arnold, etc.  Specter absoluetly would do more damage as Judicary Cmte. Chairman than a freshman PA Dem Senator

[Bleeding heart conservative, HTMLdon]

Amen, Bullmoose!

You think we'd want more judges like Kennedy or Souter?

You're absolutely right.

In case you haven't figured it out, there's a reason why we're called moderates, its because we're not far right wing conservatives. I'll take a Kennedy over a Scalia anyday, and I'll take Souter over Ginsberg anytime.

The Republican Party is not a single thinking being (ala the Borg), if you wish to turn it into such, then go ahead...I'm sure there are plenty other parties who wouldn't mind the millions of moderate republicans joining them.

[Bleeding heart conservative, HTMLdon]

Marin definately would have been a better choice -- was she not able to raise enough money to beat Jone's name recognition or did she not hit TV - what happened?

You don't have an avatar, so I'll have to assume you are not from California.  I'll give some background in my answer then, just in case you aren't familiar with the state.

We have absolutely zero chance of winning this Senate seat.  Our candidate stinks.  He is Bill Jones, a former CA Sec'y of State, and a perfectly nice guy.  But to beat an incumbent Senator in a liberal state takes a GREAT candidate.  Jones is not that.

He ran a truly lackluster campaign for Governor in 2002, and got drilled in the primaries.  He said nothing of value in the senate primary and managed to win on name recognition.  I didn't vote for him in the primaries, I voted for Rosario Marin, a female hispanic that I thought had a better chance.

Bill Jones will get blown out even though Barbara Boxer is an awful Senator.  We get back only $0.77 on every federal tax dollar we pay.  This is the nation's largest state!  We should be able to get some decent federal aid.  We have crumbling roads.  We have the worst schools in the nation (aside from DC).  We get low Medicare reimbursement, given our standard of living.  CA taxpayers pay the bill for all the illegals that are on Medicaid and Medical even though the Federal government is supposed to pay those benefits.  It is probably the nation's largest unfunded mandate.

These are things that could beat Boxer if we had a decent candidate.  If a Republican said, "Boxer is the Democratic party's representative to California, I will be California's representative to the US Senate."  We might win, but not with Bill Jones.  He just isn't anything special.

Arnold is a great governor and great salesman, but this is going to be like trying to sell a ketchup popsicle to a woman in white gloves.  I even think Bush can win here, but I am very pessimistic about the Senate.

[Bleeding heart conservative, HTMLdon]

of,

100% correct.  Keep in mind though that there are plenty of Toomey supporters (as I've found on other boards) that think President Bush is a RINO and a liberal.

For me, it's not about ideology.  I actually agree more with Toomey than with Specter.  But I want Specter to win because we need him to maintain the beautiful ideological diversity that exists in the big tent of the Republican Party.  If Roy Moron wants to be a Republican, Arlen Specter should get to be one too.

I don't know why all of you are so up in arms about Specter. He voted with Bush 89% of the time, and Toomey voted about 93% of the time as a US Rep.

And Rococo, even though it's impossible to truly tell, I highly doubt that there are more ultra right-wing Republicans then there are moderate Republicans. Same goes for the opposite end in regards to Democrats.