Tom Ridge Has A Santorum Problem
Yesterday, it was reported that former Governor Tom Ridge (R-Pa) is considering a run for the 2010 GOP Senate nomination in Pennsylvania. Certainly, Ridge would be a formidable challenger for Arlen Specter’s seat. The problem? Ridge doesn’t live in Pennsylvania.
Former Pa. Governor (and BushCo’s first Secretary of Homeland Security) Tom Ridge is apparently considering a Senate run in 2010. If he throws his hat into the GOP primary ring, he’d be going head-to-head with uber wingnut Pat Toomey in the GOP’s efforts to unseat incumbent Senator Arlen Specter (D?-Pa.).
The problem is: Ridge has a “Santorum problem“. ASZ readers may recall that former Senator Rick Santorum found himself dealing with an uncomfortable residency issue when he tried to retain his Senate seat in 2006: he didn’t actually, you know, live in Pennsylvania. In fact, millionaire Santorum actually had the audacity to bill the Penn Hills (Pa.) school district for his kid’s school tuition in Virginia.
Tom Ridge has a similiar issue.
In a 2006 filing with the Department of Justice, he registered as a lobbyist for the government of Albania, and listed his primary residence in the toney DC suburb of Chevy Chase, Maryland:
Now, granted, this may not be a logistical problem for Ridge, should he decide to run for the Senate seat from Pennsylvania. He has plenty of time between now and 2010 to legally re-establish his residence in the Keystone State. And certainly, his name recognition in Pa. is high - he’d offer a much stiffer challenge to Specter in the general election than would Pat Toomey, whose appeal is pretty much limited to the religio-fascist wing of the GOP.
Tom Ridge is a smart guy, politically savvy, and very rich. The residency questions would certainly start in the GOP primaries - in fact, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Toomey operatives were the source of the DOJ filing - and then carry over to the general election, were Ridge to be the GOP nominee.
Personal note to Mr. Ridge: rest on your laurels, sir. You’ve escaped the worst part of the ongoing Republican apocalypse. Do yourself a favor: accept the mantle of “elder GOP statesman” that has been conferred upon you, and hold it very, very close. You have the very good fortune to be the owner of a decent legacy (at least for a Republican). You know as well as I do that the 2010 Senate race in Pa. is going to be butt friggin’ fugly. So, it seems to me that some serious soul searching on your part would be in order before you decide whether or not you really want to soil your hands with that mess.
Think about it.
i disagree.
I am furious with the PA democrats, ed rendell, and the DCCC for promising to clear the field for arlen specter, the carpetbagger.
Let’s look at arlen’s recent votes: no on the obama budget and no to cramdown. he promises to oppose dawn johnsen, promises to oppose EFCA, and promises to oppose the public option in health care. he also came out last night rooting for norm Coleman.
if the dems don’t want anyone to run against Specter, and in fact prevent a primary, i would want specter to face ridge rather than toomey, and potentially lose. Not only would I rather have a weak, backbencher minority republican who can’t get anything done than a republican-in-democratic-clothing who keeps his seniority and mucks things up from a position of power, i would want to see the establishment democratic party suffer for their mistake.
our leaders suck and they think they can act without consequence. i hope ridge enters. I also hope sestak jumps in too.
I’d rather Sestak beat the pants off Specter.
Ridge was a lobbyist for Albania?
What does Albania want from the U.S. government so badly that they’re willing to pay a former state governor to advocate for them? Intervention to protect Albanian-speaking Kosovars? I honestly can’t think of anything else.
what is mortgage?