A big part of what drags down Toomey’s overall approval numbers is that he’s not very popular even with Republican voters- only 42% approve of him to 27% who disapprove. But most of those people will still vote for him in a general election even if they don’t approve of him, which is why he still leads the Democratic field.
That’s probably true, and likely will continue to be true as long as Democrats are howling at the moon mad. But what could it be that turned Republican voters off to Toomey? Gee, I wonder. How many gun voters are just going to not vote in that race? I volunteered for the guy in 2010. I will not be going forward, unless he makes it up to me and renounces the Manchin-Toomey fiasco, and votes for some things I want.
I get Toomey is trying to position himself as a moderate, but in a state with high levels of gun ownership, a strong hunting tradition, and about 1 out of every 7 adults citizens having a License to Carry Firearms, ours was not the issue to choose to go soft on.
Off topic:
If you look at that poll it shows Hillary losing to the GOP front runners in Pennsylvania. The prospect of losing The Keystone State should be putting Dems into a panic. If we go red, Ohio certainly will, and so will Florida. Where’s Hill’s path to the White House without those states?
Not to worry, when you combine the dependent hordes of Pittsburgh and Philthy with the certain-to-be-high cemetery voter turnout, she’ll take the Keystone State without a struggle.
I think all bets (or most) are off this election with this set of candidates. I mean we already have one of the biggest labor unions endorsing a Republican…
Ray is spot on
“I volunteered for the guy in 2010”
A lot of people in the Lehigh Valley had him pegged at least 12 years before that. I well remember an ambush set up for him at an Allentown area gun club, where he was expecting friendly softballs, and got detailed, hard questions that left him sputtering.
That he was still considered pro-gun in 2010 I’m inclined to believe was due to the usual NRA cover for squishy Republicans, but I’ll admit I’m biased.
I looked at his record in hindsight after he joined with Manchin, and it made sense. He had been consistently against us on this one issue
Any chance of a GOP challenger? If so, who would that be and would they have a chance statewide?
Toomey is a typical politician. I don’t mean that either as praise or an insult, but just as a fact. The gun control bill was a political move for him to help him get re-elected, and nothing more than that.
He knows he (barely) won in 2010 because it was an off-year and a GOP wave, and if he wants to be re-elected in a presidential year in Pennsylvania, he’s going to have to appear moderate. To be perfectly honest, I doubt he ever expected his gun control bill to actually pass, and it doesn’t matter that it didn’t. By simply proposing the idea, and by “working” with a Democratic senator, he got to appear moderate to the suburban Philly crowd (where statewide elections are won or lost these days).
As stated, GOP voters are going to vote for him no matter what in the general election because they know whoever the Democratic nominee is will be worse. It’s unfortunate, but such is life in a bluish-purple state.
No decent primary challenger?
Not that I’ve heard of. To be honest, I’d prefer the PAGOP save the talent to challenge Casey.
Toomey couldn’t take down Specter in a primary challenge in 2004. I really doubt that someone even further to the right would have much of a chance against a sitting senator.
I’d say Hill’s path is to the big house and not the White House.