April 30, 2004, 11:54 a.m.
Pat Toomey’s Future
An interview.

NRO: Is this your first interview since the election?

Rep. Pat Toomey: Yes it is.

NRO: Given that you lost, what do you think your campaign accomplished?

Toomey: Well I'm still sorting that out, Ramesh, and trying to figure out what if anything it accomplished. When you consider the obstacles we faced and how close we got, it makes it clear that there is a real interest in seeing the Republican party govern as a conservative party, certainly in Pennsylvania.

NRO: What does the campaign say about the strength of the conservative movement, most of its institutions having backed you?

Toomey: The vast majority of them were on my side but very much to varying degrees of involvement. The Club for Growth was terrific, very strong and very involved. Much of the conservative print media, led by National Review of course, was on my side. There were others: the Wall Street Journal, The Weekly Standard, Human Events.

NRO: Rush Limbaugh?

Toomey: I think to a large degree Rush sat out the race.

NRO: Looking back at the race, were there any mistakes you would avoid if you did it again?

Toomey: I really don't think we made any blunders, I don't think we made any significant mistakes in terms of allocating resources. Looking back, there might have been ways to more effectively exploit the Internet. But would it have made the difference in the race? It's hard to say. I have to tell you, I feel pretty good about how we ran the race. We had a lot of discipline in terms of our message. We had limited resources and we developed a strategy based on our resrouces and it came very close to working for us.

NRO: Why should your supporters vote for Specter?

Toomey: Well, the alternative is worse. Joe Hoeffel will never be with Republicans or conservatives on anything. That's number one, and number two: I think we're going to hold on to the Senate and probably grow our majority. Increasing the Republican majority is a good thing. Every Republican makes it harder for the Democrats to filibuster.

NRO: But given that so many conservatives wanted Specter out on Tuesday, and that he has been moving left since then, do you think Specter will be able to win the votes of your supporters?

Toomey: I don't know.

NRO: Do you have any hard feelings toward Santorum?

Toomey: (Pause.) No, not really. I haven't spoken with him in a while.

NRO: You didn't get a call from him after the primary?

Toomey: That's correct.

NRO: What does the future hold for Pat Toomey?

Toomey: I don't know. I really don't know. My wife and I are out on Block Island decompressing. I'm hoping to read a novel. In the next few weeks we'll start thinking about what to do next.

NRO: Any interest in running for governor in 2006?

Toomey: I haven't really given it any thought. Several people have started talking about it, but I just don't have any idea.

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