* Mr. Toomey understands that his reticence to go on the record about whether he supports Mr. Trump is the kind of political cowardice that doesn’t even pretend to be subtle. It’s unconscionable that less than two weeks before Pennsylvanians go to the polls, our junior senator continues to maintain the fiction that he’s still weighing the pros and cons of Mr. Trump’s candidacy.
* Mr. Toomey wants his constituents to believe that he’s a reasonable guy who can always be counted on to do the right thing. The problem for the junior senator is that there are Pennsylvanians in both parties who consider Mr. Trump enough of a existential threat to our democracy to hold Mr. Toomey’s calculating silence in the face of that threat against him.
* Ms. McGinty has been forthright about her positions and has held her own in debates with the senator. There’s no doubt that a vote for Ms. McGinty is vote against the cynical politics of Donald Trump. She has been unequivocal in her opposition to everything that has come out of his mouth, which is why she will probably win.
* For playing it safe and refusing to offend Trump supporters who were integral to the movement that swept him into office six years ago, Mr. Toomey finds himself in the humiliating position of hoping those same voters will rally around him again despite his withholding a full-throated endorsement of Mr. Trump at a time it would matter.
* Trump supporters aren’t idiots. They know that Sen. Pat Toomey either lacks the courage of his convictions when it comes to supporting their guy or he’s way too indecisive to send back to Washington. Either way, Mr. Toomey is about to learn a lesson about the cost of trying to stay on everyone’s good side when there’s a Trump-sized threat looming at the gates.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Column – The Sitting Senator Ducks For Cover
By Tony Norman – October 28, 2016
As of Thursday, Sen. Pat Toomey still refused to say what he thought of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and whether he continues to support him.
Swept into office with the Tea Party wave of 2010, Mr. Toomey, who was a “true believer” back when it was politically expedient to sound as crazy as possible, now wants to appear more moderate than the standard-bearer of his party. If he can do so without antagonizing the pitchfork and torches crowd that brung him to the dance in the first place, that would be his preference.
Mr. Toomey understands that his reticence to go on the record about whether he supports Mr. Trump is the kind of political cowardice that doesn’t even pretend to be subtle. It’s unconscionable that less than two weeks before Pennsylvanians go to the polls, our junior senator continues to maintain the fiction that he’s still weighing the pros and cons of Mr. Trump’s candidacy.
He does this at a time when most of his Republican brethren running for re-election in the Senate and the House have stepped forward. A minority of them have said that they can’t support their party’s nominee for president, while the majority have settled on a mealy-mouthed non-endorsement endorsement.
Now, we all know that Mr. Toomey in his heart-of-hearts probably dislikes Mr. Trump as much as any establishment Republican does, but he owes his entire political existence to an ability to speak out of both sides of his mouth.
He figures there’s nothing to be gained by leveling with his constituents and alienating his base. He’s the rare Republican who sees the value of Bill Clinton-style triangulating, even if he risks looking like a gutless opportunist during one of the most contested senatorial campaigns in the country.
For example, Mr. Toomey runs commercials in central and western parts of the state touting his perfect score with the NRA when it comes to gun rights. Meanwhile, Republican women in the suburbs of Philadelphia are bombarded with ads underscoring Mr. Toomey’s efforts to get a bipartisan-sponsored gun control bill to President Obama’s desk after the Sandy Hook massacre.
Mr. Toomey wants his constituents to believe that he’s a reasonable guy who can always be counted on to do the right thing. The problem for the junior senator is that there are Pennsylvanians in both parties who consider Mr. Trump enough of a existential threat to our democracy to hold Mr. Toomey’s calculating silence in the face of that threat against him.
Pennsylvanians aren’t stupid. We know Mr. Toomey isn’t in a position to endorse Hillary Clinton, but that doesn’t mean he’s obligated to endorse the Republican nominee out of some misguided sense of party loyalty. You can’t “love the sinner, but hate the sin” when it comes to Donald Trump.
Instead of ducking the question, Mr. Toomey should treat the voters with enough respect to level with us. Does he agree with Mr. Trump on a myriad of issues that matter to Pennsylvania? And if so, does he also believe that Mr. Trump is fit to hold the highest office in the land?
Here’s the reality: Donald Trump is trailing in Pennsylvania and isn’t likely to prevail here. Mr. Toomey is currently losing to his Democratic opponent, Katie McGinty, but that race is still within the margin of error.
Ms. McGinty has been forthright about her positions and has held her own in debates with the senator. There’s no doubt that a vote for Ms. McGinty is vote against the cynical politics of Donald Trump. She has been unequivocal in her opposition to everything that has come out of his mouth, which is why she will probably win.
For playing it safe and refusing to offend Trump supporters who were integral to the movement that swept him into office six years ago, Mr. Toomey finds himself in the humiliating position of hoping those same voters will rally around him again despite his withholding a full-throated endorsement of Mr. Trump at a time it would matter.
Trump supporters aren’t idiots. They know that Sen. Pat Toomey either lacks the courage of his convictions when it comes to supporting their guy or he’s way too indecisive to send back to Washington. Either way, Mr. Toomey is about to learn a lesson about the cost of trying to stay on everyone’s good side when there’s a Trump-sized threat looming at the gates.
Read the full column here.