With my renewed membership in the Republican Party, I paid close attention to what the GOP Senate candidates said during two debates this week.
I pride myself on being an informed voter. You can’t vote based on what you see on TV commercials and Facebook.
I came away from the debates feeling empty.
The reason I left my independent voter status and re-registered with the GOP was because there are so many horrible candidates on the ballot for governor and Senate. I want to do my part to make sure they don’t get elected.
But I have to vote for someone.
I wish Pat Toomey still were on the ballot. None of the men and women running for the seat he is vacating is better than him.
Toomey, of Center Valley, wasn’t the perfect senator. But no politician, of any party, is.
Strikes against him on my scorecard are that he’s too devoted to charter schools, and balks at efforts to address climate change.
Toomey also backed President Donald Trump’s tax cuts, which will benefit corporations for the long run but expire in 2025 for many individuals and families — aka the working folks.
But Toomey is no different from most Republican candidates in holding many of those positions.
Why I believe he is better than the crew on the ballot now is because he is willing to use his brain and apply common sense, even if that means breaking with his party on big issues.
Unlike many other Republicans, he believes government can do something to address America’s gun violence.
Toomey has partnered with Democrats on legislation to require universal background checks for firearms purchases and require law enforcement to be alerted when someone lies about their background when trying to buy a gun.
He supports term limits, which is why he is retiring instead of seeking reelection.
And, of course, Toomey was not afraid to disagree with Trump.
Too many Republicans are afraid of the bully. Toomey stood up to him.
He disagreed with some of his trade policies, including tariffs. He criticized his deal with the Taliban for U.S. troops to depart from Afghanistan.
And he voted to convict Trump at his second impeachment trial, after the Capitol riot.
“As a result of President Trump’s actions, for the first time in American history, the transfer of presidential power was not peaceful,” Toomey said in a statement after the vote. “A lawless attempt to retain power by a president was one of the founders’ greatest fears motivating the inclusion of the impeachment authorities in the U.S. Constitution.”
But since he’s not running, I’m leaning toward voting for Jeff Bartos, the real estate developer from Montgomery County who ran for lieutenant governor in 2018.
He performed the best in this week’s debates, in my opinion. If the polls are to be believed, he’s a longshot, though.
Unlike others on the stage, Bartos wasn’t antagonistic during the debates. He was calm and confident. He didn’t focus on attacking his opponents.
He offered sensible policies such as expanding energy production and toughening border security. He didn’t dispute the 2020 election results. And he supports term limits.
Another thing Bartos has going for him is that he doesn’t have to shake carpetbagger status like competitors Mehmet Oz, Carla Sands and Dave McCormick.
When a big part of your campaign is just trying to prove you really are a Pennsylvanian, that should be trouble.
All five candidates at Monday’s debate at Harrisburg television station ABC 27 — Bartos, Oz, Sands, McCormick and Kathy Barnette — invoked former President Donald Trump at times. They pointed out their ties to him or what they believed were his successful policies that need to be resumed.
For several, though, that was their primary platform.
“President Trump is very clear. I’m America-first,” Oz boasted.
He and McCormick blew off Tuesday’s debate at Dickinson College in Carlisle. I guess it was just too much for them to publicly answer questions and face criticism two nights in a row.
Candidates George Bochetto and Sean Gale, who didn’t quality for the previous debate, joined Barnette, Bartos and Sands at Dickinson.
Polls show that many Republican voters remain undecided. That’s good. It means they aren’t impressed by anyone in the large field, or they still are doing their homework.
It won’t be easy making a decision with such a poor slate. Pennsylvania would be better off if Toomey were not retiring.
Morning Call columnist Paul Muschick can be reached at 610-820-6582 or paul.muschick@mcall.com
