Toomey for Veep?
Sen. Pat Toomey (R.,Pa.) is getting some buzz as a potential vice-presidential nominee, including a piece in the National Review Online. He is seen as providing conservative cred for Mitt Romney, in particular.
Toomey for Veep?
Thomas Fitzgerald, Inquirer Politics Writer
Over the past several weeks, a new name has surfaced in the background buzz among Republican insiders about possible vice-presidential nominees: Freshman Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania.
And on Monday, National Review columnist Jim Geraghty wrote a piece building the case for Toomey, a supply-side economic conservative who opposes abortion rights, as the perfect running mate for Mitt Romney, distrusted by many on the right.
If Romey wins, he will need somebody who can reassure the GOP base without scaring the pants off moderates and independents, the thinking goes. And that could be Toomey, a sober though doctrinaire conservative who has emerged as a leader on fiscal issues - most recently as carrier of the Republican negotiating position on the congressional deficit supercommittee.
Toomey grew up in a blue-collar Democratic household, and represented a swing House district in the Allentown area for three terms in the 1990s. He then went on to lead the Club for Growth, a leading anti-tax advocacy group.
Those who like Toomey for Veep say that his ability to win in a moderate swing state is crucial, considering that the race for president may come down to Rust Belt electoral-college prizes such as Pennsylvania and Ohio. He is seen as more accomplished than another conservative favorite - Florida Sen. Marco Rubio - and outscores Gov. Christie of New Jersey on some measures of fidelity to conservative principles.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who has tied or led Romney in some recent polls, could also benefit from partnership with Toomey if he were to win the GOP nomination, Geraghty argues. Gingrich has departed from the faith on some occasions, such as supporting government action to combat global warming in the past, and many tea partiers are turned off by his $1.6 million consulting gig with Freddie Mac, the quasi-government mortgage giant whom conservatives blame in part for triggering the housing crisis.
"I don't see that happening," Toomey said of a vice presidential run, in an interview with National Review. Hmm...he displays appropriate modesty too!
Toomey has a job already. Why not someone without employment such as Rick Santorium, who is also from PA.— phillytransplant- Pa. needs toomey in the senate. i suggest rubio from Fla. or mcdonnell from Va. as romney's veep pick
— oliver north - Why would you wish sanctorum on this country? BTW, sanctorum is no longer from PA, thank God. He's from the planet Wayoutthere.— mike l
- LoL, good retort phillytransplant. Only issue is Santorum is a complete idiot whom polarizes everyone he meets. Further, Santorom is nothing more than a career politician. At least Toomey made his bones in the private sector before he jumped back into politics.— Citizenc92
- Toomey was a currency trader for about 7 years, when he sold his firm to a true-blue, patriotic, 100% By-God-Conservative-Job-Creating American Firm called, uh, Deutsche Bank. He then partnered in an Allentown sports bar for a couple of years before planting his kisser on the public teat, where it's been pretty firmly lodged since the mid-1990's. And he loves to talk about how he kept his pledge not to serve more than 3 terms in the House. He sure did - he spent his last House term running (unsuccessfully) for the Senate, with a couple of million dollars from the Hair Club for Growth. Yeah, his cred as an Outsider/Entrepreneur just gives me chills. I wish I could work for him for a couple of years before he outsources my job to Europe. Campaign motto: "Vote For Me, And Ignore The Fact That I'm Laughing At You".— 1980
- Toomey = junk mortgage derivatives = people losing their homes. — taxmanndumbeth
- what's the problem with derivatives, genius? — oliver north
- By the way: "a complete idiot whom polarizes everyone he meets"? You've got everything right there except the 'whom'.— 1980
- Toomey? Ahhhh ha ha ha ha ha! Hilarious! It's so insane the GOP will no doubt give him "serious consideration". Real life is more nuts than fiction.— FishtownSkeptic
- The left wing media trying to wake up their base with these rumors so their followers can jump on internet message boards and turn up the "outrage".— AvoidSundanceVacations
- Avoid(lamest screen name on the internet): what in the world are you talking about? Is your point that these rumors, which have been floated to the liberal media by their friends in the conservative media, are simply designed to provoke outrage at Toomey's phoney-baloney entrepreneurship (he created jobs for himself and each of his brothers, that's it) and patriotism (he got sort-of-rich trading foreign currencies on foreign exchanges)? Sorry, but the rest of the world is more bemused than outraged.— 1980
- These rumors are a fabrication. Toomey's got no shot. This is a way for liberals to jump on the internet and start going after Toomey. You fell right into the trap. You're talking about him and ripping him so it's mission accomplished.— AvoidSundanceVacations
- If a totally empty suit like Obama can be president, Toomey can be VP.— kelprod2
- Rick Santorum is a RINO, always was, always will be.— LJM
- What has Toomey done?? He couldn't fill an empty suit!
“To rid the world of Osama bin Laden, Anwar al-Awlaki and Moammar Qaddafi within six months: if Obama were a Republican, he'd be on Mount Rushmore by now.”
- Andrew Sullivan (Conservative) referring to President Obama's national security - foreign policy accomplishments.
— Cornwall Citizen
You can reach Tom Fitzgerald at 215-854-2718 or tfitzgerald@phillynews.com.
Reach Thomas at tfitzgerald@phillynews.com.
