Rick Santorum has enough problems these days with his gaffe insisting on English being the official language of Puerto Rico and the impact of his insistence on raising troubling social issues such as contraception and pornography even though these discussion do him no good. But the real gift that keeps on giving for Santorum is his decision in 2004 to back Arlen Specter’s bid for re-election against an impeccable conservative challenge, then Rep. Pat Toomey. The issue has caused him no end of embarrassment in subsequent years, especially after Specter backed President Obama’s stimulus boondoggle and then ObamaCare after turning his coat and switching to the Democrats in 2009.
The issue will get another hearing this month because, as Politico reports, Specter’s political memoir Life With the Cannibals will soon be released. In it, Specter details Santorum’s help in 2004 as well as his 2009 advice about how to hold onto the seat he would lose, ironically enough, to Toomey in 2010. Specter’s book won’t help Santorum among conservatives who regard the decision as one more instance of how the Pennsylvanian’s desire to be a “team player” often came into conflict with his conservative values. But as much as Santorum deserves to be criticized for his decision, a little perspective on that race is in order.
First of all, though Specter credits Santorum for pulling him through a difficult primary in which he wound up beating Toomey in a close race, it should also be remembered that the most important conservative backing the incumbent in Pennsylvania that year was not Santorum. It was George W. Bush, who believed keeping Specter on the ticket was vital to his chances of winning Pennsylvania in a tough battle for re-election.
Another point often obscured in discussions of that election is that the issue was not so much, as Santorum now insists, a matter of ensuring that conservative Supreme Court justices were confirmed in Bush’s second term (though even Santorum and Specter’s most virulent conservative critics can’t fault his efforts to secure the confirmation of Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Alito) as it was giving Bush a chance in Pennsylvania and holding onto a slim GOP majority in the Senate that fall. The assumption then was that Toomey simply couldn’t hold the seat. That’s why everyone in the Republican establishment including Santorum (who was then a member of the Senate leadership) moved heaven and earth in 2003 to persuade Toomey to back off.
That assumption was incorrect, as I think Toomey could have beaten then Rep. Joseph Hoeffel, the Democrat who eventually lost to Specter in November 2004. But none of the trio of Bush, Karl Rove and Santorum thought it was worth gambling a Senate majority on Toomey when they assumed Specter would have an easy time in a general election. As it turned out, Specter didn’t win by the landslide the GOP thought he would, a result that was a harbinger of future trouble for the senator.
It should also be remembered that literally hours after declaring victory in the primary, Specter held a news conference in Philadelphia in which he repaid both Bush and Santorum by giving them the back of his hand by stating he didn’t consider himself bound to support the president’s measures in the coming years. Those who believe Specter’s recent statements about private conversations he had with Santorum about court confirmations in 2004 should remember that double cross as well as the countless other betrayals that can be credited to Specter when they take his word for it when he says he made no promises to his colleague.
As for Santorum’s intervention call in 2009 seeking to “help” Specter hold onto his seat by persuading him to vote against the stimulus, that, too, deserves some perspective. Heading into 2009, the feud between Specter and Toomey had seemingly been forgotten. At that time, a tacit agreement between the two existed in which Toomey would forgo another primary challenge against Specter in exchange for the latter’s support for the conservative’s run for the post of governor of Pennsylvania. So in urging Specter to stick with his party on the stimulus, Santorum was an advocate not so much for the “team” as for peace in a still bitterly divided Pennsylvania GOP. But once Specter left the GOP reservation on the stimulus, the anger of conservatives was such that Toomey felt obliged to abandon his plans to run for governor and instead challenge Specter. Specter rightly understood that without Bush and Santorum holding his coat, he had no chance of winning a Republican primary and jumped to the Democrats. In an act of poetic justice, Specter lost the Democratic primary the next year to a more liberal candidate, Rep. Joe Sestak, who was, in turn, defeated by Toomey in November.
Santorum deserves blame, as do Bush and Rove, for enabling Specter to survive for six more years. But the moral of the story is not so much Santorum’s lack of principle (an argument that a onetime liberal GOP Senate candidate like Mitt Romney is ill-placed to make) as it is the difficulty of dealing with as slippery a character as Specter. Though Specter now presents himself as being too pure to survive any longer in the dark world of American politics, he was himself the worst example of an unprincipled politician that we have had in the last 30 years. As his 2004 opponent Hoeffel memorably said of him, “It’s hard to run against Arlen on the issues because he’s on both sides of every one.” If Santorum is to be shamed for his 2004 decision, he is as entitled as anyone to lament how hard it was serving alongside a “cannibal”-like Specter in the Senate for 12 years.
Nobody deserves this millstone around their neck more than Santorum. All the things Spectre did leading up to that endorsement – and all of Santorum's FLAMING LIBERAL votes that NEVER get proper airtime vetting… n nVOTING DOWN RIGHT TO WORK, FOR FELON VOTING, FOR NEA, AGAINST MISSILE DEFENSE, FOR BRADY GUN CONTROL… nI don't know how he has the nerve to show his face anyway.
Give it a rest, Rose.
Not while he is in the race. He earned it. Don't try to cheat him of his own reputation.
Rose smarten up, Santorum had a Republican President and he was towing the party line,whether is was the best choice in retrospect, we did get the necessary Justice for SCOTUS (perhaps you are too young to remember how the Democrats led by slimeball Senator Biden, doubled crossed the GOP in Bork's SCOTUS nomination n nSetting aside the personal attacks, most conservatives agree that a candidate’s record during the time he or she was in elected office takes precedent over all other points of consideration. So, let’s stick with the facts and you be the judge. Keep in mind; I am purposely not stressing his most egregious assault on liberty and the fabric of America as we know it – RomneyCare, so to shed light on a few of Mitt Romney’s lesser known, Leftist Big Government greatest Hits. n n nRomney's record as Governor is nothing short of disgraceful: n•Romney voted to mandate Affirmative Action for all public companies n•Romney opposed the Bush Tax Cuts n•Romney strongly opposes the pro-growth "Flat-Tax”, using Marxist, Obama verbiage calling the flat tax "unfair" n•As Governor Romney enacted $432 million in fee hikes and $300 million in higher taxes and refused to sign to a no-tax pledge each of his four years in office n•As an ardent supporter of Cap & Trade, Romney worked to regulate “greenhouse gas emissions” in Massachusetts and got Massachusetts involved in a regional climate change pact n•Romney still supports tax payer ethanol subsidies (while even environmental conman Al Gore confesses they were a mistake, done for political gain) n•As Governor, Romney proposed a budget in 2007 that was an outrageous 8.5 percent higher than the one he proposed the year before n•In 2009 and 2009, Romney favored increasing spending “substantially” on energy research. Romney also supports tax dollar energy subsidies in general n•Romney fervently supported Obama's $Trillion Dollar failed Stimulus, saying the Obama Stimulus will “accelerate the timing of the start of the recovery" n•Romney opposed the highly successful Contract with America; an example of how Romney has no clue concerning the overriding goal of Democrat policies. n•Romney supported reappointing Ben Bernanke to chairman of the Federal Reserve. n•Reserve and Romney strongly supports the Failed Department of Education. n•In 2004, as Governor of Massachusetts, Romney introduced the Massachusetts Climate Protection Plan to reduce greenhouse gases. n•In 2008, Romney told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer that “there’s nothing wrong with dealing with global warming.” n•Romney still believes in man-made global warming (2011), n•Romney distanced himself from Reagan and Reagan’s policies. During his Senate debate with Ted Kennedy, Romney made it clear he was not a fan of Ronald Reagan. Stating, “I was an independent during the time of Reagan-Bush. I’m not trying to return to Reagan-Bush.” Romney’s own words show – that not only did he not understand conservative principles; he was wholly unable to intellectually defend them. n nAnd the list goes on, proving Romney’s incomprehensible tendency not to just talk about, but to support Leftist, Big Government Policies. Was there ever a time when you supported Affirmative action for all public companies? Did you support Obama’s ridiculous stimulus? Consequently: It is categorically impossible for someone who understands and authentically believes in conservative political theory to voluntarily take so many wrong positions. Romney’s failure to understand Conservative Constitutional Principles is glaring. The evidence is abundantly clear; the only thing Conservative about Romney is his Rhetoric and now is not the time to support a squishy candidate. n
You're desperate, Mr. Tobin, and you're making a fool of yourself. Stop it.
YOU are the one looking Desperate, Mr. Graves – YOU are the one trying to shame Santorum detractors WITHOUT FACTS. n nYou really want a nation where Voters are NOT ALLOWED to explain the REASONS why they find some candidates to be unfit for the office they are running for. Like what Hugo Chavez is doing to Venezuela, like what Putin has brought Russia back to.
Here’s some facts Rose on your man Mitt:
Setting aside the personal attacks, most conservatives agree that a candidate’s record during the time he or she was in elected office takes precedent over all other points of consideration. So, let’s stick with the facts and you be the judge. Keep in mind; I am purposely not stressing his most egregious assault on liberty and the fabric of America as we know it – RomneyCare, so to shed light on a few of Mitt Romney’s lesser known, Leftist Big Government greatest Hits.
Romney’s record as Governor is nothing short of disgraceful:
• Romney voted to mandate Affirmative Action for all public companies
• Romney opposed the Bush Tax Cuts
• Romney strongly opposes the pro-growth “Flat-Tax”, using Marxist, Obama verbiage calling the flat tax “unfair”
• As Governor Romney enacted $432 million in fee hikes and $300 million in higher taxes and refused to sign to a no-tax pledge each of his four years in office
• As an ardent supporter of Cap & Trade, Romney worked to regulate “greenhouse gas emissions” in Massachusetts and got Massachusetts involved in a regional climate change pact
• Romney still supports tax payer ethanol subsidies (while even environmental conman Al Gore confesses they were a mistake, done for political gain)
• As Governor, Romney proposed a budget in 2007 that was an outrageous 8.5 percent higher than the one he proposed the year before
• In 2009 and 2009, Romney favored increasing spending “substantially” on energy research. Romney also supports tax dollar energy subsidies in general
• Romney fervently supported Obama’s $Trillion Dollar failed Stimulus, saying the Obama Stimulus will “accelerate the timing of the start of the recovery”
• Romney opposed the highly successful Contract with America; an example of how Romney has no clue concerning the overriding goal of Democrat policies.
• Romney supported reappointing Ben Bernanke to chairman of the Federal Reserve.
• Reserve and Romney strongly supports the Failed Department of Education.
• In 2004, as Governor of Massachusetts, Romney introduced the Massachusetts Climate Protection Plan to reduce greenhouse gases.
• In 2008, Romney told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer that “there’s nothing wrong with dealing with global warming.”
• Romney still believes in man-made global warming (2011),
• Romney distanced himself from Reagan and Reagan’s policies. During his Senate debate with Ted Kennedy, Romney made it clear he was not a fan of Ronald Reagan. Stating, “I was an independent during the time of Reagan-Bush. I’m not trying to return to Reagan-Bush.” Romney’s own words show – that not only did he not understand conservative principles; he was wholly unable to intellectually defend them.
And the list goes on, proving Romney’s incomprehensible tendency not to just talk about, but to support Leftist, Big Government Policies. Was there ever a time when you supported Affirmative action for all public companies? Did you support Obama’s ridiculous stimulus? Consequently: It is categorically impossible for someone who understands and authentically believes in conservative political theory to voluntarily take so many wrong positions. Romney’s failure to understand Conservative Constitutional Principles is glaring. The evidence is abundantly clear; the only thing Conservative about Romney is his Rhetoric and now is not the time to support a squishy candidate.
Chris…. Too long and too many lies. After reading your first four bullets and seeing that they are factually untrue, I didn't waste my time on the rest….
Here’s some facts Rose on your man Mitt:
Setting aside the personal attacks, most conservatives agree that a candidate’s record during the time he or she was in elected office takes precedent over all other points of consideration. So, let’s stick with the facts and you be the judge. Keep in mind; I am purposely not stressing his most egregious assault on liberty and the fabric of America as we know it – RomneyCare, so to shed light on a few of Mitt Romney’s lesser known, Leftist Big Government greatest Hits.
Romney’s record as Governor is nothing short of disgraceful:
• Romney voted to mandate Affirmative Action for all public companies
• Romney opposed the Bush Tax Cuts
• Romney strongly opposes the pro-growth “Flat-Tax”, using Marxist, Obama verbiage calling the flat tax “unfair”
• As Governor Romney enacted $432 million in fee hikes and $300 million in higher taxes and refused to sign to a no-tax pledge each of his four years in office
• As an ardent supporter of Cap & Trade, Romney worked to regulate “greenhouse gas emissions” in Massachusetts and got Massachusetts involved in a regional climate change pact
• Romney still supports tax payer ethanol subsidies (while even environmental conman Al Gore confesses they were a mistake, done for political gain)
• As Governor, Romney proposed a budget in 2007 that was an outrageous 8.5 percent higher than the one he proposed the year before
• In 2009 and 2009, Romney favored increasing spending “substantially” on energy research. Romney also supports tax dollar energy subsidies in general
• Romney fervently supported Obama’s $Trillion Dollar failed Stimulus, saying the Obama Stimulus will “accelerate the timing of the start of the recovery”
• Romney opposed the highly successful Contract with America; an example of how Romney has no clue concerning the overriding goal of Democrat policies.
• Romney supported reappointing Ben Bernanke to chairman of the Federal Reserve.
• Reserve and Romney strongly supports the Failed Department of Education.
• In 2004, as Governor of Massachusetts, Romney introduced the Massachusetts Climate Protection Plan to reduce greenhouse gases.
• In 2008, Romney told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer that “there’s nothing wrong with dealing with global warming.”
• Romney still believes in man-made global warming (2011),
• Romney distanced himself from Reagan and Reagan’s policies. During his Senate debate with Ted Kennedy, Romney made it clear he was not a fan of Ronald Reagan. Stating, “I was an independent during the time of Reagan-Bush. I’m not trying to return to Reagan-Bush.” Romney’s own words show – that not only did he not understand conservative principles; he was wholly unable to intellectually defend them.
And the list goes on, proving Romney’s incomprehensible tendency not to just talk about, but to support Leftist, Big Government Policies. Was there ever a time when you supported Affirmative action for all public companies? Did you support Obama’s ridiculous stimulus? Consequently: It is categorically impossible for someone who understands and authentically believes in conservative political theory to voluntarily take so many wrong positions. Romney’s failure to understand Conservative Constitutional Principles is glaring. The evidence is abundantly clear; the only thing Conservative about Romney is his Rhetoric and now is not the time to support a squishy candidate.
Romney spending millions to convince people of his stalwart trustworthiness is comparable to the Left's great effort to convince people of Sarah Palin's non-existent fatuity.
There may be many reasons why Rick Santorum is not the best Republican to take on Obama, but this is not one of them. Neither Sen. Santorum or President Bush could be expected to see just what a backstabber Specter would turn out to be. Washington may be full of cannibals, but while Specter was in the Senate, there was at least one snake!
As Rose pointed out earlier, Specter is but one of many reasons to reject Santorum. His votes for liberal causes and in support of the unions and big government healthcare (Medicare Part D) are only the tip of the iceberg. In this campaign, he has repeatedly lied about his opponents,and about his own positions in the past (anti-TARP, anti-UAW bailout, the steel bailout that wasn't). n nGod help us if he represents the religious right because his path to heaven is paved with lies. He seriously needs to address exactly what happened to all of the money from the charity he founded and exactly how he used the money he controlled from his Senate Leadership PAC . Ripping off PA taxpayers by applying for home schooling aid while his kids resided in Virginia is deliberate theft as best that I can tell. n nAs much as I dislike Mitt, I will vote for him before Saint Ricky if the choice comes down to those two. n n
Without Bush's support of Specter we wouldn't have ObamaCare .. one more brick in the wall telling the story of what what Bush wrought.
I can't believe I'm defending Santorum, but…when you're in the Senate – you actually have to vote on issues. Sometimes things are not black and white. Sometimes there are other items in bills, that your state or district actually needs. And yes, sometimes you have to compromise – it's the only way things get done in our system. nRomney has had the luxury of not having to make a real policy decision in 8 years.
Right to Work is BLACK AND WHITE. Brady Gun Control is BLACK AND WHITE. FELON VOTING is BLACK AND WHITE. n nSantorum doesn't remind me of what I am looking for. I will not give him my Authorization.
America did not get to where it is by accident or simply through liberal cabals and conspiracies. The American political system may just not accommodate electoral politics intended to move the needle back in government-private citizen and government-state relations to before LBJ's Great Society expansion of the New Deal where the foundation for this stuff was cemented in. The one thing we know about Romney is that he wants to be President. Because he wants to be President. Since he chose to do that as a Republican he runs as a conservative. In office?