Though we don’t know the fallout just yet
A sure thing is no more a safe bet
It shook up a swing state—
At this very late date—
The withdrawal of Steve LaTourette
Headline: GOP moderate from Ohio quitting his seat. Is he punishing his party?
Potentially leaving his party in the lurch, Rep. Steven LaTourette (R) of Ohio is set to announce his retirement at the end of this term, the Columbus Dispatch and The Hill newspaper reported Monday evening.
He was a sure thing, in a swing state. Now, the deadline for announcing a candidate for the upcoming race is August 8th. If LaTourette officially announces before then, Republicans are up against a wall. If the official announcement is later, they get to simply choose a replacement candidate. Either way, a swing state loses momentum in a serious way.
I grew up in Ohio, in lots of different places. In this past election, every county I lived in in Ohio… went for Santorum. I’d be happy to see a sea-change in the Buckeye state.
Dog knows, we need a change in the Republican party. But losing people like this is not the one we want.
The Republicans are going through what the Democrats went through forty years ago; their agenda has been completely hijacked by their most extreme members. With the retirement of a moderate, who are they going to nominate in his place? Another moderate? Or a Santorum-like nut-bag?
Moderate Republicans, instead of fighting to take back their party from the fringe groups, are running scared. And as Aaron Sorkin pointed out, when Republicans run scared, they run to the right. That’s where the money is.
LaTourette’s retirement is not good news. Not yet, anyway.
Hoping for an outbreak of “LaTourette syndrome” elsewhere in the Republican body politic…my congressman would be an excellent place to start.
…”LaTourette syndrome”…
There’s nothing you can do about that joke. It’s coming, and that’s all there is to it. No escape.