Running from defeat
Defeat is nipping at the heels of U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, the embattled Pennsylvania conservative Republican.
He can't seem to budge State Treasurer Bob Casey Jr.'s consistent double-digit lead in the polls, and even the endorsement of the National Rifle Association (which also more-or-less likes Casey) hasn't been the benefit it was in his 2000 re-election campaign against Ron Klink. Santorum has reportedly pulled his ads off network TV in favor of cheaper cable channels--he claims it was a strategic move--and the only big-name endorsers he can get to appear for him are fellow wingnuts like Fox News commentator Sean Hannity, who is appearing on his behalf in Lancaster County this Saturday. That will lock up the right-wing vote for sure, but he already had that and it will drive even more Republican moderates to the Casey camp.
Perhaps the oddest contretemps for Santorum came after he used Lord of the Rings imagery to describe his position in the war on terrorism. Tolkien fans scornfully ripped him limb from limb, at least metaphorically, for his errors. God help Santorum if he tries Star Trek imagery next and screws that up.
Yesterday, he was reduced to moaning that Casey is supposedly "unqualified" to serve in the Senate. This follows a charming commercial showing Casey's head next to an A-bomb mushroom cloud. Santorum's reasoning is that because Casey doesn't subscribe to the same Bush-Cheney paranoia that he does, he must be some sort of wimp.
Really the only thing that could save Santorum now is a mass defection of liberals from Casey, who is as conservative as Santorum on some issues but not nearly as nasty. But leave it to Santorum, he couldn't help himself when the New Jersey gay marriage ruling came out earlier this week. He didn't exactly call it an abomination, but every liberal got the point and remembered why they dislike him so much. All Santorum needs now is for George W. Bush to call him "my good friend" and you might as well call the election now.