Outside the Beltway

Ridge Not Running

· Thursday, May 7, 2009 · 3 comments

The good news keeps pouring in for Arlen Specter.   A day after it looked as if his Senate career had blown up in his face, with the Democrats stripping Specter of his seniority and polls showing that Tom Ridge would crush him in a head-to-head matchup, he’s been given the chairmanship of the most important Judiciary subcommittee and Ridge has announced that he won’t run.

A shame.  Ridge’s beating Specter would have both been a just comeuppance for one of the most opportunistic members of the Senate — and that’s saying something — and helped restablish the Republican Moderate caucus on the Hill.   Ridge instead prefers to try to affect that change from the private sector.

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James Joyner
About James Joyner
James Joyner is Professor and Department Head of Security Studies at Marine Corps University's Command and Staff College. He's a former Army officer and Desert Storm veteran. Views expressed here are his own. Follow James on Twitter @DrJJoyner.

Comments

  1. Our Paul says:
    Thursday, 7 May 2009 at 17:12

    James, I got to tell you I love this one:

    Ridge’s beating Specter would have… helped restablish the Republican Moderate caucus on the Hill. Ridge instead prefers to try to affect that change from the private sector.

    Really, a Republican Moderate caucus? Identified by what, lack of a Southern accent? The two ladies from the great State of Maine and…??? Oh, I know, all those Senators who decided to vote in favor of Obama’s stimulus package. Some adolescent explained to them that an attitude that would ”let Bank of America and AIG and others fail and let the chips fall where they may”, just might infuriate those who had contributed, or where living off their IRA.

    My view, the only two candidates that might prevent a Democratic blow out in 2012 are Charlie Crist or Tom Ridge. Without a National Stage, there is no way that Ridge could in any way modify the Republican Party.

  2. Michael says:
    Thursday, 7 May 2009 at 17:50

    My view, the only two candidates that might prevent a Democratic blow out in 2012 are Charlie Crist or Tom Ridge.

    Florida is not the south. Crist won’t be popular among the national GOP base.

  3. Our Paul says:
    Thursday, 7 May 2009 at 22:16

    You got that one right Michael (May 7, 2009 | 05:50 pm). And that is why in a previous post (OP, at May 6, 2009 | 12:13 pm) I voiced the opinion that the Democrats would rule for a minimum of two Presidential cycles (12 to 16 years). The Republicans have no one in their stable for 2012 that can “unify” the crumbling three legged stool.

    A successful two term cycle for Obama, with significant legislative achievement (health care, infrastructure repair, recovered economy, etc) will clear the path for the next Democratic Presidential candidate, with a clear cut agenda set in stone…

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