Casey and Santorum
Shipoke, the Harrisburg neighborhood by the Susquehanna River where I live, is famous for its Friday night Happy Hours, which are always happy but often last more than an hour. We took advantage of the warm weather that arrived late Friday afternoon to sit out on the back patio after returning from my daughters' school play at the Forum. An old political friend was among those who stopped by. He is well-connected to the current administration, and talked about State Treasurer Bob Casey Jr., the presumptive Democratic nominee to take on U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum this fall. He was optimistic about Casey's chances, pointing out he has consistently led Santorum in the polls, usually by double digit figures. Of course, the real storm is yet to come when Santorum and the groups who support him began running negative ads against Casey. But about what? Casey is one of the genuinely "nice" politicians in the state and has earned his Boy Scout image. Of course, Ron Klink, the last Democrat to take on Santorum, had one of the highest pro-gun voting records among Democrats in the Congress, but the NRA turned on him with a vengeance. That wasn't Klink's only problem, but it didn't help. Casey needs to steel himself for what is ahead. He appears to have gotten a pass from moderate and liberal Democrats on the abortion issue. The Casey family is famously pro-life, but Democrats want so badly to defeat Santorum that many are willing to overlook that, my friend said. Now that Kate Michelman of the National Abortion Rights Action League has reconsidered her brief bid to challenge Casey for the nomination from the left, the way for him seems clear. The doubters can be won over with the argument that unless Casey beats Santorum, there is little chance for the Democrats to regain control of the Senate. And if the Democrats had been in control of the Senate this year, they can be reminded, the nomination of Judge Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court never would have gotten out of committee.