PA: Incubator of National Conservative Leaders

Sen. Pat Toomey is well-known as having led the conservative Club for Growth but he isn't Pennsylvania's only national conservative leader. This weekend Mike Allen's Politco Playbook linked to a story in the National Review which features Colin Hanna. He is the president of the national conservative group Let Freedom Ring and the person who came up with Cut, Cap, and Balance.

The New Republic article is titled: "The New Norquist: Meet the GOP’s Latest Hardline Power Broker," by Michael Fitzgerald. Hanna is a Chester County, PA, native. The article notes:

But Hanna’s big break came less through Washington social climbing than by chance, when, in 2003, while waiting in line to get an autograph from Karen Santorum (wife of long-shot presidential candidate and avid pro-lifer Rick Santorum), he crossed paths with John Templeton Jr., the son and successor of eccentric, devout billionaire investor and philanthropist John Templeton. The two connected over their outrage about George Soros’s moveon.org, and Templeton agreed to seed Hanna with $1 million to start Let Freedom Ring.