Last we heard from Tom Ridge he was being urged to seek the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate to oppose GOP turncoat-turned-Democrat Arlen Specter.

The thinking was that the party needed someone a little more center of the road, as opposed to conservative former congressman Pat Toomey, who many believe will have trouble in a statewide race.

Ridge, the former governor and Homeland Security director, begged off.

Turns out he has bigger fish to fry.

Ridge obviously heard the concerns among party faithful about how far right the party has swung, and the concern about Toomey’s ability to appeal to enough voters outside the base to win a statewide race.

Sounds like Ridge thinks the same thing is playing out nationally.

He spent part of the Memorial Day weekend hitting the Sunday morning talk shows. And his message was clear: The Republican Party needs to move to the center, away from the hard-line, strictly partisan stance of the party’s hard-core conservative base.

Ridge said the party needs to start spending less time defining the differences within the party and pointing out more how they differ from the Democrats. And to do that he believes the party needs to move more to the center.

His thoughts were echoed by another moderate Republican, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of State and Secretary of State Colin Powell.

Both had some stinging words for the man many now see as the face of the party, conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh. Ridge made it pretty clear that Limbaugh’s message turned off a lot of voters and left them unable to draw enough support to win key races. Limbaugh has belittled Powell, questioning his GOP credentials and urging him to join Specter in the Democratic ranks.

While Ridge has ruled out a run in the Senate race that could pit him against fellow moderate Arlen Specter, he did not specifically rule out seeking the White House in 2012. Ridge was considered a possibility for the vice president’s slot that Sen. John McCain instead gave to Gov.
Sarah Palin.

Ridge was considered a problem for the GOP because of his “choice”
position on abortion. That kind of litmus test imposed by GOP hard-liners seems to be exactly the kind of thing Ridge and others point to in saying the party has moved too far to the right.

You have to wonder how much more effective a McCain/Ridge ticket would have been.

Ridge now might not settle for the No. 2 slot on the ticket. He obviously believes the party needs to change.

And he might be ready to be the person leading the parade.