William F. Buckley urges Pennsylvania Republicans to vote for Pat Toomey in next Tuesday's Senate primary. Toomey, of course, is running against liberal Republican Arlen Specter, whom President Bush has endorsed. The argument in favor of Specter is that he is more likely to win in November, thus helping Republicans keep control of the Senate. However, Buckley argues that for control of the Senate to change hands, nearly all of the truly contested races would have to go the Democrats' way, and that if the Democratic tide is strong enough for that to happen, it will likely sweep Specter away too.

My reason for favoring Toomey is less sophisticated -- Specter is simply too liberal to support when there is a decent conservative alternative. This NRO piece by John Miller makes the point. Says Miller, "[Specter] is an abortion-rights absolutist, a dogged advocate of racial preferences, a bitter foe of tort reform, a firm friend of the International Criminal Court — the list is long." As a key member of the Senate judiciary coommittee, he has been instrumental, from time-to-time, in defeating conservative nominees, most notably Robert Bork. And who can forget his "not proven vote" (based, he announced pompously, on Scottish law) when it came time to vote on Bill Clinton's impeachment? Apart from its inherent silliness, the vote had no basis in fact. The charges against Clinton certainly were proven, the only real issue was whether they should result in his removal from office.

The time to consider a pragmatic vote for Specter will be in November, if he survives his race with Toomey (he is still ahead, though Toomey is said to be gaining). Next Tuesday, the choice for mainstream Republicans should be obvious -- Pat Toomey.

Posted by Paul at 05:17 PM  |    |  

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