Chris Chocola began yesterday as the new president of the Club for Growth. I met Chris many years ago where I spent several hours with him wondering why he was interested in Congress despite the fact that he had an extremely above-average IQ, as well as a moral compass, two things that at the time struck me as a disqualifier for Congress (today, I feel more strongly about this point, but am just happy that there are 8-10 exceptions at any given time). This is a big development. Chris is a champion, and I am just as excited to be a big part of the Club for Growth as ever.

More importantly, the reason for Chris’s arrival is that Pat Toomey’s campaign to be the Republican nominee for Senator in the state of Pennsylvania begins today.  He is going to fight with every ounce of breath in his body to defeat Arlen Specter for this nomination.  As far as I am concerned, winning that seat in 2010 amounts to a win that will be JUST AS important as any race against a Democrat.

As a Republican Party, we have put up with the heretical behavior and votes of Arlen Specter for too, too long.  His day of reckoning is here. I plead with you all to make the Specter/Toomey primary a major source of your focus and contributions in the next cycle. We are in a war for the most essential elements of our character. Toomey is a warrior in that fight – on our side. Specter is part of the reason this war is upon us.  I am not using these words lightly.