Dear XXXX,
By now I hope you have heard the good news that former Club for Growth President Pat Toomey has decided to take on the vital task of running for the U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania against arch-RINO Arlen Specter. Of course, Pat’s departure leaves big shoes to fill, and that falls to me as the new president of the Club for Growth.
I am fully committed to making sure the Club for Growth continues to be the influential and effective organization that it has been through the years of Pat Toomey’s outstanding leadership.
I am proud to tell you that one of the first actions I have taken as President of this great organization is to announce the Club for Growth PAC’s endorsement of Pat Toomey’s Senate candidacy.
I have known Pat for a long time, and had the privilege of serving with him in Congress when I represented Indiana’s Second Congressional District. Pat and I stood together in Congress for economic conservatism, limited government, and personal freedom.
My time in business and in Congress has shown me how crucial it is that we elect the right kind of people to the House and Senate. We need to change the gene pool in Washington, and that is what the Club for Growth PAC does best.
And I cannot think of a more important race this election cycle than Pat Toomey’s candidacy for the U.S. Senate against the liberal “Republican” incumbent, Arlen Specter.
Specter must be replaced. He may call himself a Republican, but it’s awfully hard to tell. In fact, Arlen Specter is so liberal, Harry Reid and other Democratic leaders spent MONTHS trying to convince the Pennsylvania RINO to defect and switch parties.
If not for Arlen Specter — President Obama never would have been able to pass the wasteful boondoggle he is calling the “stimulus.” Sen. Specter spent years betraying economic conservatives, but his greatest betrayal came just two months ago when he voted with the Democrats to pass Barack Obama’s $800 billion stimulus. Senator Specter’s vote was the sixtieth vote the Democrats needed to avoid a Republican filibuster of the bill.
Remember, Pat ran against Arlen Specter in 2004 and nearly won. We know from past experience that Specter will stop at nothing to keep his thirty-year political career intact.
He is already stooping to the same low-down dirty tricks this time around. Even before Pat announced his candidacy, Specter started running negative attack ads against Pat that contained a blatant lie. This duplicity was so egregious, Specter had to change the ad!
But unlike six years ago, Republicans in Pennsylvania are experiencing buyer’s remorse. Unlike six years ago, Pat is beating Specter in the polls, and Specter is running scared.
These are crucial times for our country. We need Pat Toomey in the Senate more than ever!
The power of the Club for Growth lies with you — our freedom-loving members who unite in the name of a great and noble cause. I hope you will join me in this next stage of the great fight for our fundamental liberties and in helping to elect Pat Toomey to the United States Senate.
I thank you in advance for your most generous contribution to Pat Toomey’s campaign today.
Best Regards,
Chris
Chris Chocola
President, Club for Growth
2001 L Street, NW, Ste 600
Washington, DC 20036
PH: 202-955-5500
April 16th, 2009 at 12:40 pm
Missives like that are the best thing that can happen to the DC Statehood
movement.
April 16th, 2009 at 12:49 pm
GREAT IDEA COUNT!!! Then we can have have this Senate seat filled by someone who doesn’t support personal accounts for Social Security, wouldn’t vote for Alitoand Roberts, wasn’t given a 65% rating by the NTU, won’t vote to repeal the AMT, won’t vote against raising the minimum wage, won’t vote yes on building a fence across the Southern border, won’t vote to reauthorize the Patriot Act, won’t be given an 81% rating by the Christian Coalition in 2003, won’t support drilling in ANWR, won’t vote for school vouchers in DC, and won’t vote against withdrawal from Iraq. Way to advance the conservative agenda.
Seriously, I am MUCH happier with Kratovil, Schauer, Minnick and Whitehouse in the Senate than with the more moderate alternatives that the Republicans had offered in those districts.
Screw the Club for Growth. They are a cancer on the conservative movement. I’d use stronger language, but I would be banned.
April 16th, 2009 at 12:51 pm
Sigh. This circular firing squad just has to stop. A Toomey win equals a second Democrat Senator from Pennsylvania. Period.
What is so fricken hard to understand about this?
April 16th, 2009 at 12:55 pm
And then in two years all you of you “grass roots conservatives” will be even more marginalized when we don’t have a prayer of blocking any legislation because New Senate Critter (D-PA) votes with us exactly zero percent of the time.
April 16th, 2009 at 1:02 pm
“when we don’t have a prayer of blocking any legislation” True, but do we have a prayer now. The train is leaving the station, we get on now or be run over later.
April 16th, 2009 at 1:02 pm
“A Toomey win equals a second Democrat Senator from Pennsylvania. Period”
Really? I thought that’s why we actually have elections. I didn’t know victories were guarenteed over a year out from election day.
April 16th, 2009 at 1:03 pm
Good point Sean M, at the rate the Dems are going, they will lose a lot of supposedly safe seats.
April 16th, 2009 at 1:11 pm
I guess it should come as no surprise to see that Count Chocola’s brain is made of crunchy marshmallows…
Arlen Specter’s National Journal Senate Rankings
How to Read These Ratings
A score of 54 on the conservative scale, for example, means that the senator was more conservative than 54 percent of his Senate colleagues on key votes.
Composite
2008: 55.2
2007: 54.5
Economic issues
2008: 57
2007: 54
Foreign policy issues
2008: 60
2007: 57
Social issues
2008: 47
2007: 51
Ten Reasons to Support Arlen Specter
April 16th, 2009 at 1:16 pm
The single greatest crisis facing the country is the growing national debt and our progressive tax system. Specter supports these anti-growth policies, Toomey does not.
April 16th, 2009 at 1:22 pm
Sean M,
Yes. Really. Toomey lose. Anyone with a brain knows it.
Kristofer,
And Specter votes for Republican organization in the senate. His seat gets us that much closer to 50 votes. i would much rather have Republicans as commitee chairmen.
Specter is better for conservatism and Republican victory than any Democrat. And the only options are Specter and a Democrat. Toomey is not viable and will never be.
April 16th, 2009 at 1:27 pm
Arlen Specter may be “more conservative” than some of his compatriots in the Senate, but Pat Toomey is the preferred candidate. Just because the common wisdom is that Toomey will lose the general election doesn’t mean that this common wisdom is correct. Common wisdom was that in 2008 John McCain wasn’t going to be the nominee and that the Democratic nominee would be Hillary Clinton. As the economy is a major issue and so long as it remains one in 2010, Toomey actually wouldn’t be a bad candidate.
Primaries CAN make the eventual winner a stronger candidate in the general election. See Gerald Ford (1976), George Pataki (NY-Gov 1994), Barack Obama (2008) for examples.
April 16th, 2009 at 1:32 pm
I don’t dislike Specter, and I can tolerate his moderation.
But I do tire of all the nth-term seat-holding octogenarians who have spent the bulk of their lives representing states and districts from which they have become so estranged that they probably could no longer recognize if taken there in person.
I don’t like term limits, but record-challenging incumbents certainly help me understand why so many others do.
April 16th, 2009 at 1:40 pm
“The single greatest crisis facing the country is the growing national debt and our progressive tax system. Specter supports these anti-growth policies, Toomey does not.” I am glad that you at least stand by your FiCon principles. Some of these characters that come about here lately are FiLibs and as well SoLibs. I am tempted to think they are trolls. They have no idea how the economy works and they do not seem to mind paying Taxes; this is not Conservatism at all.
April 16th, 2009 at 1:46 pm
This is stupid. I hate Specter as much as anyone, but I agree this is most likely just going to lead to one more democrat in the Senate.
April 16th, 2009 at 1:48 pm
Right on, I like what I see with Toomey so far, send him a few bucks people or prove your arguments that he is fiscally liberal.
April 16th, 2009 at 1:49 pm
I’m sendin’ a few bucks. Those Tea Parties really heated things up and are clarifying some issues in my mind. Gotta reach across state boundaries and support conservatives wherever they are taking on the battle.
April 16th, 2009 at 1:50 pm
Man, running a conservative like Toomey in PA is crazy! It’s like the Democrats running far out liberals like Dennis Kucinich and Al Franken in swing states like Ohio and Minnesota and actually expecting to win! What are these extremists thinking?
Oh wait….
April 16th, 2009 at 1:53 pm
HuckPac is proud to endorse Pat Toom… err…nevermind.
April 16th, 2009 at 1:56 pm
Joe,
Except that Kucinich isn’t winning statewide office. That’s kind of an important difference. Just because Peter King can win in Long Island doesn’t make New York State a bastion of conservatism. And one kooky congressional district in Cleveland doesn’t speak for all of Ohio. And Minnesota is not a swing state. It hasn’t swung our way in decades.
April 16th, 2009 at 2:16 pm
As a Pennsylvanian who will vote in this primary, I can tell you that I will never again vote for Arlen Specter. The Republicans convinced me to do that in 2004, but never again. During the debate on the stimulus package I called Specter’s office several times urging him to vote against the Obama stimulus and citing the impartial CBO report that doing nothing was better than passing this bill. His office personnel acknowledged to me their calls were running 8 to 1 against the stimulus. Did Senator Specter listen to his constituents? Absolutely not!
There comes a time when principles are more important than political party. I think that was evident in yesterday’s tea parties. Republicans and Democrats need to be called out for not being responsive to the citizens. Senator Specter is an arrogant politician who will be retired next year.
April 16th, 2009 at 2:17 pm
Poll after poll keeps showing that the American people don’t have any trust for republicans in congress. There is plenty of blame to be shared by most of these jokers, but the worst are Stevens, Craig, and Specter. So what if the Dems get the seat. At least then they will have to own the failures of congress. After eight years of Bush, no one believes republicans anymore. Specter is much more of a liability than an asset.
April 16th, 2009 at 2:20 pm
Addition a trillion dollars to the debt this year will require as much as 2 trillion of tax increases in the years to come (paying off the debt and interest).
Specter is not pro growth and does not understand this, so what is the point to having him in the Senate?
April 16th, 2009 at 2:23 pm
#21 has a point.
How many incumbents will survive in 2010? Probably not many.
You boys have to realize, Specter is DOA in 2010 against the Democrat.
April 16th, 2009 at 2:37 pm
That is GROSSLY underdetermined. Specter has been winning elections for decades with the support of Republicans, Independents and Democrats. There is no evidence to back up the claim that he is DOA.
One thing we DO know is that TOOMEY is DOA in PA where Captain Dipshit won by 11 points last fall.
April 16th, 2009 at 2:38 pm
I’d rather start off with 41 than just hand one over to the Dems and start with 40.
April 16th, 2009 at 2:49 pm
Adam, actually you are incorrect.
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/s_613850.html
April 16th, 2009 at 2:52 pm
An Interview with Pat Toomey
http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/2009/04/an_interview_with_pat_toomey.asp
April 16th, 2009 at 2:56 pm
And we both know that doesn’t necessarily mean that the support will transfer to whomever the Democrat nominee will be.
Nobody *loves* Specter. But the point is, the guy can win. Even when Clinton carried the state in 1992, Specter still won. And that was AFTER he backed Clarence THomas and it nearly cost him his job. Show me polling of Specter versus an actual person on the Democrat side and we’ll talk. You’re just not going to find any polls of any living, breathing Democrat not named “generic” that actually is leading.
April 16th, 2009 at 2:57 pm
And Clinton won Pennsylvania by 9 points in 1992. So Specter’s win was no small feat.
April 16th, 2009 at 3:46 pm
Specter has to go.
April 16th, 2009 at 4:16 pm
“but the worst are Stevens, Craig, and Specter”
Why does Specter fall in with Stevens and Craig? People don’t like them because of their lack of ethics and honesty. Specter is NOT the reason for national distrust in Republicans. I find that statement laughable.
“You boys have to realize, Specter is DOA in 2010 against the Democrat.”
Maybe he’s a little behind at this point, but DOA? Maybe a little bit of an embellished claim.
“A new statewide poll shows 53 percent of Pennsylvanians — and 66 percent of Republicans — want someone to replace Sen. Arlen Specter.”
This represents a split between the Democrats and the Republicans. Of those 53%, roughly half would agree that Specter is a better alternative than Toomey and the other half would agree that Specter is a better alternative than the Democrat. So once the primaries shake out, a majority of Toomey voters would support Specter against a Democratic candidate, and the Democratic voters sure won’t be flipping to Pat Toomey.
April 16th, 2009 at 4:31 pm
SEE? Our Democrat “friends” are exploiting this GOP stubbornness already.
April 16th, 2009 at 5:05 pm
Adam,
Your argument is based on Specter winning…he cannot. His polls numbers have dropped too much.
I am other year I would support Specter, especially in light on his pro-choice stance, but he cannot win in 2010.
Most of the sitting Senate and House members who support the spending bill are/will be in trouble.
April 16th, 2009 at 5:10 pm
You have no evidence to support the claim that he can’t win. Provided he can get through the primary he has an incumbancy advantage and a track record of winning in a hostile environment. He’s our best shot. I don’t that fact anymore than the most rightwing arch-conservatives on here, but it doesn’t make it any less true.
April 16th, 2009 at 5:18 pm
Adam,
What evidence do you have that he is our best shot? A poll from 1992 or 1996?
April 16th, 2009 at 5:29 pm
Kristofer,
No. Decades of history. The fact that a down-the-line conservative almost never wins in Pennsylvania. Bush barely won the state in 1988 and only did so as he managed a 40-state landslide. That was the last time a “three-legged” Republican won at the presidential level in the Keystone State.
Santorum only won in 1994 because of a weird confluence of events. A) He replaced an appointed Democrat. B) It was the best GOP year in decades. C) he won a plurality in a 3-way race. Santorum clung to power in 2000 only because the Dems put a lackluster candidate up as an opponent. Even here he only managed 53 percent of the vote. It was only a matter of time before he went down.
It’s just not going to happen for Toomey.
April 16th, 2009 at 5:42 pm
Adam,
There is a big difference between Toomey and Santorum. That was not a very good example.
“decades of history”.
you look at this as a right-left or center-right issues. What you believe to be a positive for Specter (incumbency), I am arguing that this will be a negative, for both sitting Republicans and Democrats.
Specter, Dodd, Paterson and Corzine, etc…are all threatened in the 2009 and 2010 elections.
April 16th, 2009 at 5:47 pm
Dodd and Paterson’s problems are a totally different animal. We’ll see how threatened Corzine ultimately is. I’m not convinced he’s going anywhere in NJ.
PA voters have never been ovrly economically conservative. Look at how popular Bob Casey was. I just don’t see Specter’s stimulus vote being his undoing. He’s done far worse in the eyes of voters and has lived to fight another day.
April 16th, 2009 at 7:08 pm
weighing in here, as an open libtroll: i don’t think “DOA” is quite right, but i’d have agree with Kristofer. Specter will have a much tougher time in the general than conventional wisdom holds right now. frankly, a lot of Dem interest groups who had sort of non-aggression pacts with Specter before, and in order to win the nomination, he’s clearly going to have to move pretty sharply to the right to be the nominee.
though it will be an impressive feat if he does win the primary. in 2004, Specter won by about 17,000 votes. at that point he had the public support of a president still popular among Republicans and a Senator respected by conservatives. now, both of them are out of office and, partly because of the Dem primary, the PA GOP is about 100,000 voters smaller than it was in 2004.
April 16th, 2009 at 7:36 pm
To all the Toomey supporters, answer me this one question:
Assuming Toomey wins in the Primary in April, how do you propose keep Specter in line on crucial votes like Card check from then until January 5 when his term ends?
April 16th, 2009 at 7:40 pm
Sean P, how do you propose to keep Specter in line on crucial votes if he does win the primary? The threat of being primaried will be gone. I predict he will about face as soon as the primary results are in.
April 16th, 2009 at 7:49 pm
Hope Mr. Specter will the election in 2010. He is not conservative. He is a liberal Democratic.
April 16th, 2009 at 7:52 pm
Hope Mr. Spector will lose the election in 2010.
April 16th, 2009 at 8:20 pm
No offense, but you guys are REALLY dumb. I’m just being honest here. Specter is your only chance of holding on to that seat. You people are worse than Moveon.org for your side. By all means, take Specter down. Patrick Murphy (D) is a fine choice for PA.
April 16th, 2009 at 8:20 pm
Out of the 19 most liberal states, the states that supported Kerry in 2004, there are 38 Senators.
In 2006, only 9 of those Senators were Republicans.
In 2008, only 7 of those Senators were Republicans.
Now only 4 of those Senators are Republicans (assuming Coleman loses).
In 2010 Judd Gregg (NH) is retiring and he will probably be replaced by a Democrat. That leaves Specter, Snowe, and Collins. This is the only type of Republican who can win in blue states anymore. Toomey won’t win statewide in Pennsylvania, he will lose horribly! Specter is the best we can hope for. If you want Republicans to have a majority in the Senate then you need some moderate Republicans from liberal states.
Liberals might not be happy with conservative Democrat Senators like Ben Nelson and Mary Landrieu, but they don’t run liberal primary challengers against them, because they know liberals can’t win in those conservative states.
Do you want to have a majority and run the country, or do you want to lose elections and complain?
April 17th, 2009 at 6:53 am
“You people are worse than Moveon.org” You are Moveon.
April 17th, 2009 at 9:32 am
2. You make me want to send Toomey a check.
April 17th, 2009 at 12:02 pm
#42: I agree with your point — a lot of his repositioning is posturing to get him through the primary and not a reflection of his natural tendencies.
However, the problem will be much, much worse if he loses. If he wins the primary, he will need to placate the large number of disappointed Toomey voters, which will limit his leftward lurch (much like McCain made tax cuts and offshore drilling a campaign priority AFTER winning the nomination). He will also need campaign cash, and lots of it. There will be positioning to the center, true, but it will be kept in check by the factors mentioned above.
Now, make him a lame duck and the GOP will have nothing — NOTHING to offer him. And the Democratic Party will fall over themselves to turn Specter into a martyr, much like they did for Jeffords, and try to play into his vanity. I’ve seen it happen before. There was a Democratic congressmen (Martinez, I believe was his name) in California
who was defeated in a primary by a more reliable lefty (Solis), she went on
to win the general election but in the 8 months between his primary defeat and her swearing in he sabatoged the Democratic Party at every turn. In fact by the end of his tenure he was
even caucusing with the Republican Party.
And remember, the Democratic Party doesn’t need Specters substantive vote, they only need him to support them on CLOTURE. They get that cloture vote and say goodbye to free and fair union elections, and say hello to higher prices for just about everything,
more outsourcing jobs and no real net benefit to the workers who will be intimidated into unions by the millions. (yes, their paychecks will go up, but that increased pay will go
straight into the union’s pockets as dues — plus a union shop eliminates lateral promotion within a company, which could result in LOWER pay in the long term). And do NOT count on Landreu or Lincoln or one of the other moderate Democrats stopping card check. They will vote no on the final vote, but there is no way they will buck their party leadership on cloture. The GOP needs to keep Specter happy to stop card check, plain and simple.
Sorry to turn this into a rant on card check, but this in my mind is the #1 issue for the GOP right now, which is why I’m fine with Toomey’s challenge to Specter AS LONG AS it ultimately proves unsuccessful.