Does Toomey have a shot in Pa?

No way—at least according to Republican Senator Orrin Hatch.

Back at the end of April, pWould the the NRSC back Toomey? “I don’t think so,” Hatch said. He advised the party to look for “someone who can win there.”/p
pFast forward to Tuesday when the NSRC a href="http://www.pa2010.com/2009/07/nrsc-endorses-toomey/" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.pa2010.com']);return TrackClick("http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pa2010.com%2F2009%2F07%2Fnrsc-endorses-toomey%2F','officially+endorsed')"officially endorsed/a Toomey’s run for office. The man Senator Hatch told the world less than two months ago had no chance of winning an election in Pennsylvania has now gotten the blessing of the organization Hatch helps lead—one whose role is to elect Republicans to the Senate nationwide./p
pLet’s face it: Pat Toomey is not the NRSC’s favorite choice to run in this seat. Tom Ridge and Jane Orie were courted by party heavyweights to jump into the primary, yet both declined. Pennsylvania Republicans were not eager to take on Specter in a general election, and saw a run in 2010 as an exercise in futility. That left the GOP with only one good option—lining up behind the most serious contender in the race. As May turned into June, Republicans began nervously eying the electoral calendar. The GOP primary will be on May 18, 2010. With less than a year to go, and no other serious Pennsylvania Republicans looking to run for the Senate seat, the Republicans were forced to endorse./p
pToomey, for his part, has begun going through the motions of a href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0609/24350_Page2.html" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.politico.com']);return TrackClick("http%3A%2F%2Fwww.politico.com%2Fnews%2Fstories%2F0609%2F24350_Page2.html','reaching+out+to+the+center%2C')">reaching out to the center, a smart move for a conservative running in a state where registered Democrats currently outnumber Republicans by 1.2 million voters. The GOP is hoping that a

July 17, 2009 at 10:54 am | Comments (3)

OUCH! Sen. Orrin Hatch tosses Toomey under the bus

Well, so much for Pat Toomey getting support for his candidacy from well-placed Senate Republicans! On Wednesday, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), said that Toomey wasn’t up to the task.

“I don’t think there is anybody in the world who believes he can get elected senator there,” Hatch said.

full story

April 30, 2009 at 11:22 am | Comments (0)