Need Help

As you can probably tell, I'm no english major, so I don't know if it's called irony or not.... but what do you call a response to the question "Will the Real Bob Casey Please Speak Up?" given by his campaign manager Jay Reiff?

I would like to think that at the very least Bob Casey himself could stand up. Maybe he was too busy with his duties at the treasurer's office.

In any case, here it is.

LIVE FROM THE PA LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE

Live from the PA Leaderhip Conference!
I'm not sure if I'll get much blogging in this weekend but I wanted to report on the speech that Senator Santorum gave to us before dinner.
Senator Sanorum started by saying that he had a sense of pride in being a conservative. He hit upon the themes of a sense 'stewardship of patrimony.' He said we don't own America; rather we are here only for a moment. He said we need to recognize and cherish the good while admitting our faults. He outlined as he has elsewhere that there are two area of stewardships that need focused on security and culture.

Security from our foreign enemies and at our borders is crucial.

The President made an error in making this a war on Terror. Terror is a war tactic, like the Blitzkreig. We didn't go to war against the Blitzkreig we went to war against an ideology. We aren't at war with terror we are at war with an ideology, and that ideology is Islamic Fascism.

This war is important, he said, and can be lost. It won't be lost on the streets of Baghdad it will be lost here at home. Their goal is to kill innocence and broadcast those images back here. There hope is that we will back down in the face of the terror. Then He told a captive audience 'Don't let terrorism terrorize you.'

Another great quote:
'When crazy people head governments and pledge to harm us we had better believe them.'
_________________________________________________________________

The crowd was rabid in its response to the Senator. There has been some buzz around about the discontents with Senator Santorum. In the restrooms there were anti-Santorum flyers which I'll post later. The Senator also spoke of some domestic priorities which I'll blog on later as well

MID POST DEVElOPMENTS:
While I was writing this Joe Scarborough was speaking here are two quotes relative to the race
Joe Scarborough:

'Rick will win because he articulates his views clearly'
'Rick Santorum is an exception to the rule when it comes to Republican leadership failing our principles'

Sandals on KDKA

It looks like some people have discovered that Bob Casey isn't the only Democrat candidate.

KDKA: Casey Not The Only Dem Eying Senate Seat

[Alan Sandals] says democrats should pick him over Casey because of the issues.

“I disagree with him so strongly on a number of issues. We have the issue of a woman's right to choose and medical privacy where his position lines up solidly with Rick Santorum," Sandals said.

Besides being pro-choice, Sandals says he favors handgun control to reduce urban crime, and on the war in Iraq, he wants America out by the end of the year.

“This was a bad decision, and to continue our military occupation in an open ended way is just such a waste of life,” he said.

PLC on PCN

The Pennsylvania Leadership Conference is live on PCNTV this weekend, if you're interested.

It's also being streamed on the web at PCNTV.com

Senator Santorum is scheduled to address the crowd at 6:30pm.

Up & Downs

A couple of mentions for the Senate race on PoliticsPa's Up & Down list.

Mixed John Featherman for his "mostly classy" exit. Mr Featherman's had nothing but kind words for Santorum. I don't get it.

Down for Chuck Pennacchio for knocking the F&M's Keystone Poll. No mention of the "Bob Casey is limiting the debates!" ... uh.. "No he's not, sorry!" thing.

Finally...

The Club for Growth takes some heat and generates a few chuckles in Pennsylvania as it sends out a mass email noting the unpopularity of numerous senators according to a recent poll, including Rick Santorum.

I guess missed both the heat and chuckles.

Pennacchio on Polling

Saw this up on PoliticsPa. Not where the actual statement is at. (It's not on Chuck2006.com

On Monday, March 27th, three pollsters, Dr. G. Terry Madonna, Dr. Berwood Yost, and Dr. Christopher Borick, took the unusual step of sending a press release objecting to Chuck's characterization of their polling on Pennsylvania’s US Senate campaign as biased, as electioneering, and as push polling. We have taken our time to assemble the evidence on which these complaints were based, and solicit advice from statisticians. All evidence may now be viewed on our website at: http://www.chuck2006.com/info.asp?CONTENT=pollsters. We urge members of the press to examine our response.

The page shows that the Keystone Poll changed its polling practices in November of 2005, the first poll in which Chuck was included. Keystone polled Chuck differently than every other candidate surveyed in the November poll, and in prior polls. Dr. Madonna, who was asked by several parties about criteria for inclusion, either declined to supply criteria, or stated criteria which Keystone had already violated.

The page also shows that the Muhlenberg Poll conducted a survey that again selected two candidates for different treatment than the rest of the field.

The page sets forth attempts by our campaign to contact the Quinnipiac Polling Institute to learn why it has not polled on our candidate, and to ascertain its criteria for inclusion. We’ve never received a reply from that organization.

Finally, the page discusses the terminology that should apply to these polls, the effect they have on campaigns, and why we believe that the polling techniques used in some sections of these polls constitute electioneering.

Our campaign wants to go on record as saying that, in general, we really admire the public opinion research these organizations provide, and have cited their studies repeatedly to show what Pennsylvanians are thinking. But there is a problem here, and we sincerely urge these gentlemen to address it.

This is one of the reasons why I generally don't like polling. I think sometimes it's as much an art as it is a science. Everyone has their own opinions, and the quality of the question makes a difference.

Yeah, I know, the next post down is all about the latest Zogby poll. But I hold my nose as a service to you, faithful readers. ;)

Zogby/WSJ Polling

A new Zogby International poll is out. It's hard not to say this is good news for the Senator.

It breaks 47.4 to 39.4 a spread of 8 in favor of Casey. But it looks to be narrowing.
Zogby's last poll on Jan 27th, non-push poll, was 50.5% to 37.8%.



Disclaimer:
I've changed the way I display the poll results. I've removed the margin of error lines to unclutter the display. Generally, the MofE was between 2.5% and 4.5%, depending on the poll.

I've added a purple line for Undecided / Other. I simply subtract the total of Santorum and Casey from 100%.

The spikes in September and January are Zogby International polls. The January poll is the poll taken at the behest of OpEdNews.com and reflect the answers when the person being polled is informed that Bob Casey is pro-life. It looks like there was a baseline Santorum vs Casey poll, they then told the pollee Casey is pro-life, then they were asked again. The baseline numbers were in line with the rest, 39% to 51%.

A Quinnipiac Poll also bears that out.

The spike in March is the Mansfield University poll.

Blogging the Race II

Earlier I had a post on Rick Santorum's daily blog reads.

A list of Bob Casey's daily reads has also turned up.

• AmericaBlog
• Daily KOS
• Joshua Marshall’s Talking Points Memo
• MyDD
• The Fix
• Taegan Goddard’s Political Wire
• Hotline on Call
• Grassroots Pa

I for one, eagerly anticipate the inaugural Bob Casey DailyKos diary entry.

On The Job?

I'm surprised this story has legs.

Republican Sen. Rick Santorum's re-election campaign is making an issue of Casey's work-attendance record, accusing the top Democratic challenger of "skipping work" that voters elected him to do. Santorum is also sponsoring a "Where's Bob Casey?" Web site.

Casey's campaign says the time he spends in his office is not a meaningful gauge of his performance. He regularly confers with Treasury Department staff and participates in business meetings by telephone, and the department has run smoothly during his 14-month tenure, it says.

"Bob is treasurer 24/7," said Casey's campaign manager, Jay Reiff.

"He is ultimately responsible for everything that happens in that office," Reiff said. "Things are going right and he's getting a lot done."

Robert Traynham, Santorum's press secretary, questioned whether management by telephone "passes the smell test."

"Calling in to the office is one thing," Traynham said. "Showing up ... is something completely different."

Liberal Backlash?

Donald Lambro writes at HumanEventsOnline.com, Pro-Life Democrat Could Face Liberal Backlash...

Although both Santorum and Casey are avowedly pro-life, the big difference is that the senator's position is strongly supported by the GOP's base, while Casey's party is overwhelmingly pro-choice in a state that has some of the most conservative abortion laws in the nation.

Strange as it may seem, most Democrats still don't know much about Casey's pro-life views -- including his opposition to federal funding of embryonic stem-cell research -- but when they do, his support drops. A Quinnipiac poll found that after voters were told he was pro-life, many Democrats reacted negatively to his candidacy, a fact that could spell trouble for him when the race heats up later this year.

"A significant number of Casey supporters still do not know that Casey is opposed to abortion. There are a significant number of pro-choice voters whose entire opinion swings on that one issue, and, unlike other single-issue voters, they will use their vote on just that one issue, even if it hurts the candidate they are otherwise philosophically attuned with," [Clay Richards, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute] told me.

There are other reasons why pro-choice activists are angry with Casey, which could further complicate his campaign.

Senator Environment

State Rep Kate Harper writes in defense of Rick Santorum.

During my service, I've seen firsthand Sen. Santorum's commitment to our environment. He authored the Farmland Protection Act, one of our nation's most successful conservation programs. Pennsylvania has reaped the benefits of it as more than 13,000 acres of state farmland have been preserved through the more than $12 million in assistance received. All told, more than 2,500 Pennsylvania farms have been revitalized and preserved because of the program.

Sen. Santorum has been committed to preserving Pennsylvania's precious open space. He has authored legislation to redevelop blighted brownfield sites to ensure that responsible development takes place and our communities are not overrun by strip malls and congestion.

He was a leader in enacting the Highlands Conservation Act, which authorizes $100 million for land conservation projects in four mid-Atlantic states, including Pennsylvania.

He is working to include additional tax incentives for charitable donations of property for conservation purposes. This would encourage the conservation of land, and would ensure that land-rich but cash-poor families receive an incentive to donate land for such purposes.

Senate as TV

Comparing both Lynn Swann and Bob Casey's campaigns to "Seinfeld", the popular show about nothing, Dave at Chuck Pennacchio's writes...

Another show that Casey's campaign brings to mind is "Everybody Loves Raymond". After all, that's why (Un)Democratic party leaders like Ed Rendell, Harry Reid, and Chuck Schumer insisted Casey's the guy to beat Santorum, because "Everybody loves Casey". Of course, the joke is that nobody loves Casey. We've all been told Casey is a pro-labor Democrat, but then why would he vote to confirm the viciously anti-labor Samuel Alito to the Surpreme Court? Progressives are deeply disturbed with Casey's conservative positions. And across the state, Democrats are outraged with the party leadership for trying to deny us a fair and open primary. Many have told us that they won't vote for Casey if he wins in May. Socially liberal Republicans won't vote for Casey. And conservative Republicans love Santorum. So who does that leave?

A Little Bit of eBragging...

Many, many thanks to the readers of Santorum Blog!

This destination is now the number one search result for the term Santorum Blog for the leading search engines - Yahoo, Google, MSN, Ask Jeeves, and Dogpile.

Thanks to all the writing staff for the hard work to keep this site fresh, thanks to Alex for active leadership, and thanks to Chris for getting this ball rolling!

Thanks again to the readers!

Senator on Iraq & Document Release

RealClearPolitics has the text of a speech Senator Santorum gave on the Senate floor.

He starts out by talking of progress and of patience, and goes on to the document release efforts...

I suggest there are some things that we are finding out now. Another effort I have been working on in Iraq is the intelligence information we have been able to gather from the former regimes in Iraq and Afghanistan. This has been a project that Congressman Peter Hoekstra, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, has been working on--and I have worked with him--to make sure these 48,000 boxes, containing roughly 2 million documents, are released to the American public and the world to determine what was the intelligence assessment and the activity level and, in particular, in Iraq with Saddam, and with his interaction with elements of al-Qaida or other terrorist organizations.

What we are finding is that some of the statements that have been made on the floor and statements that were made just as recently as March 19, 2006 by my colleague from Pennsylvania, Congressman Jack Murtha who said:


There was no terrorism in Iraq before we went there. None. There was no connection with al-Qaida. There was no connection with terrorism in Iraq itself.

Yet if we look at some of the documents that are being released by Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte--and, again, only a few hundred of the millions of documents have been released. As a caveat, while Congressman Hoekstra and I are excited about the fact that DNI decided to release these documents, the pace of the release is, let us say, unsatisfactory to this point.

GOP On the Run?

CNN.com

The danger signs for Republicans show up across the electoral map but nowhere more clearly than in the swing state of Pennsylvania, where the hottest Senate race in the country is being fought and where Republican strategists say as many as five GOP congressional seats are in play, out of a total 19. The President is still beloved by the state's Republican faithful, as evidenced by the fact that 500 of them showed up to see him at a $1,000-a-plate private fund raiser for Senator Rick Santorum last week in Sewickley Heights, a suburb of Pittsburgh. Santorum posed for photos with the President at the airport and leaned into a smiling handshake with political guru Karl Rove. But it was telling that Santorum, who is trailing state treasurer Bob Casey by 10 points in the latest polls, scheduled no public appearances with Bush.

I'm not a politician by any means, nor am I an event planner. But I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that the Senator didn't plan the President's schedule that day.

I don't think it says much more than that.

The Single Issue

The San Francisco Bay Guardian has a review of liberal uber-blogger's Markos Zuniga (DailyKos) and Philly's own Jerome Armstrong's (MyDD.com) new book, Crashing the Gate: Netroots, Grassroots, and the Rise of People-Powered Politics...

The bloggers' diagnosis of what's wrong with the Democratic Party goes beyond typical discussions of messaging, money, and leaders. Armstrong and Moulitsas argue that the power of single-issue groups and litmus-test requirements has made it almost impossible for Democrats to function as a majority party.

The two men are particularly critical of the abortion-rights movement, and in some ways their strategic analysis is accurate. Which is why my avowedly pro-choice friends in Pennsylvania support the antichoice Democrat Bob Casey (blasted by some women's groups) over right-wing-nut incumbent Rick Santorum in the crucial Senate race this year: They know that if the Democrats control the Senate, Casey's personal position won't matter as much.

Senate Lobby Rules Passed

Post-Gazette

Pennsylvania senators, Arlen Specter and Rick Santorum, voted for the bill, and Mr. Santorum said criticisms of it were unfair. "This is a much tougher bill than I think anyone would have anticipated when we started this process," he said.

The Senate legislation will bar senators from accepting meals from lobbyists and force them for the first time to get pre-approval from the Senate ethics panel for trips paid for by private entities, which was how Mr. Abramoff arranged many of his lavish golf junkets for members and congressional staff.

Senators who leave Congress for the lobbying world will no longer have exclusive access to the Senate floor and must wait two years instead of one before lobbying former colleagues. Senate staffers-turned-lobbyists will face a new restriction as well; they must wait one year before lobbying not just the office where they worked but also the entire Senate in that "cooling-off period."

Rassmussen Polling

I meant to get this up on Tuesday, but travel got in the way.

Rasmussen poll 48% to 38%. The previous Rasmussen was Casey 52%, Santorum 36%.

No mention in the link of Pennacchio or Sandals. I wonder if there will be another press release.

Some opinion from the chattering classes.

GOPBloggers

It appears the Casey, a pro-life Democrat, is being hurt by increased attention on the abortion issue...

Students for Santorum

This drop is significant since there was virtually no drop in Casey's poll numbers for 3 consecutive months. So what drove his poll numbers down? Abortion. Which is what will continue to pull Casey down.

Perry Christopher

Casey is now under 50% and Sen Santorum is closing the gap. Don't take my word for it, look for yourself. The trend is undeniable. Casey has peaked.

Disclaimer & Explanation:

The darker lines are the poll results, the lighter colors are including the +/- margin of error. The margins drift between 2.4% and 4.5% which always seems to be Rasmussen.

The spikes in September and January are Zogby International polls. The January poll is the poll taken at the behest of OpEdNews.com and reflect the answers when the person being polled is informed that Bob Casey is pro-life. It looks like there was a baseline Santorum vs Casey poll, they then told the pollee Casey is pro-life, then they were asked again. The baseline numbers were in line with the rest, 39% to 51%.

A Quinnipiac Poll also bears that out.

The spike in March is the Mansfield University poll.

Under New Management

Well, that didn't go as well as planned.

I apologize to the legions of SantorumBlog fans who were unable to visit the site on Wednesday.

You may have noticed in the past few months, that I have taken a leading role in editing SantorumBlog.com. More data, more posts, more posters... and the crew has stepped up with more analysis.

Today, I can announce that my purchase of SantorumBlog.com from Chris Lilik and GrassrootsPa.com has been completed.

My goal is for SantorumBlog to be the preeminent blog covering the Senate race. The SantorumBloggers obviously have an agenda. Another six years of Rick Santorum in the Senate. But we'll be fair. To all sides.

A couple of things might change, but those changes will be incremental ones (think layout), we might add more analysts, guest essays, and perhaps interviews [ahem] but no matter the changes and additions, we'll press on until victory is declared on November 7th!

We thank you for your continued visits,

Santorum continues Ethics push

Good article on The Lobbying bill being considered before the US Senate right now.
Some Highlights:

It Killed an attempt to create an independent ethics office. Santorum said ethics complaints can be made front the outside currently and are dealt with seriously. He added that other groups may "hire somebody who is a hired gun from the outside -- whose job it is to sort of 'get' senators -- I just think is corruption of the process."

Additionally the Bill says:

• Senators would need a super-majority to place a hold on legislation
• Bars Senators and their staff from accepting meals from lobbyists in an amendment sponsored by Senator Santorum. Also requires pre-approval of trips, and cannot be recreational in nature.
• Forces lobbyists report activities quarterly instead of twice a year

This seems to be a good bill that was forged in part by Senator Santorum's tireless efforts. Hopefully it passes. Congratulations on a bi-partisan success in an election year, Senator Santorum!

More on Pennacchio Polling

Lancaster New Era

“Let’s face it. In the political world, if you’re not a viable candidate it’s difficult to raise money and get media attention. He has to call into question the poll results for those reasons,” [Berwood Yost, the head methodologist and director of F&M’s Center for Opinion Research.] said.

Pennacchio, who is running for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate against front-runner Bob Casey Jr. and Alan Sandals, first criticized the F&M and Muhlenberg polls during a Philadelphia radio show two weeks ago.

In an interview today, he stood by his remarks and again claimed the two colleges’ surveys were “push polls,” or ones deceptively tailored to sway voter opinions.

“They promote the Casey candidacy by positioning Casey as the only major candidate running against (U.S. Sen.) Rick Santorum,” Pennacchio said. “They’re entirely dismissive of my candidacy in the poll.”

Sending Casey to Washington

An interesting idea.

Feminist leaders who refused to endorse Bob Casey Jr. for the U.S. Senate last week may have been shortsighted.

Because sending Casey to Washington may keep him out of the governor's mansion in Harrisburg, where he can do far more harm to the cause of reproductive rights.

Or so goes the intriguing theory of a political activist and friend named Mary Hurtig.

Hurtig thinks Roe v. Wade is "finished," and that the U.S. Supreme Court will send the issue of abortion back to the states to decide.

She also thinks Casey is a shoo-in for governor, where he'd delight in outlawing abortion altogether if given the chance.

"If choice is your motivating issue, if it's central to who you are, you absolutely want to make sure he is not your next governor," she said of Casey.

The best way to do that, she said, is to send him to Washington.

Of course sending Bob Casey to Washington would mean a whole host of other things. The potential for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, for one.

At The Committee

Schlomo Boudraeux: State Democratic Committee Breaks Rules to Suppress Pennacchio's Supporters

I've been curious about what went on at the Pennsylvania State Democratic Committee meeting where Casey was endorsed. It seems odd that Casey would roll over Chuck so easily. Sure, Casey is the front-runner, but multiple counties have supported an open primary. Shouldn't the vote for keeping the primary open have been closer? I contacted someone at the Pennacchio headquarters for more details. Apparently, the meeting was rather chaotic and certain pro-Casey forces pressured and intimidated Pennacchio's supporters.

Read on...

Recapturing The Fight

In 1994, Rick Santorum ran for US Senate, and barely anyone gave him a prayer of winning. The NRSC refused to spend barely any money at all until the last week or so when it became clear Rick had a real chance of winning. His slogan in 1994 was "Join The Fight!" and it embodied the 1994 mantra of fighting for smaller government, lower taxes, and individual liberty. It was about taking back government of the people, for the people and by the people.

In the twelve years since, a lot has happened, and one of the major things has been the Republican Party's establishment of itself as the establishment. The fight mentality is gone. If Rick is to win this race, which I fully believe he can, we as a party need to regain that fight mentality. The veracity that people fight with when their backs are up against the wall, and believe me, our backs are up against the wall.

So folks let's join the fight!

Casey on immigration

In the story posted below Bobby Casey Jr was asked what he thought about immigration. We got a thorough explanation of his views and philosophies which was finally a signal that he intends to run a campaign based issues and not negative attacks......Nah I'm just kidding. We got more silence from Bobby and another standard answer from the Casey Campaign:

Larry Smar said, "I think it's still pretty early in the process and we're
watching the Senate debate. It seems like there isn't that much consensus in Washington, or in the Senate for that matter, on how to proceed, so we'll watch the debates and see how it progresses."

Full story here

The more things change the more they stay the same.

Santorum brings common sense to the Immigration Debate

Senator is once again prvoing why we need him in the United States Senate. Responding to the debate on illegal immigration Senator outlined his view of the situation. Santorum wants those who want to become citizens to have to return home before doing so saying:

"I don't know why anyone would bother trying to wait in line to get a green card ... You create all sorts (of), I think, very bad incentives for really controlling the ingress into this country,"

Santorum a son of an immigrant believes the following:

"the bottom line is that we have to treat people who came to this country illegally differently than those who came legally, and if we don't, then we will never control our borders, period."

Full story here

Wikipedia: Casey

Just for fun, I typed in Casey in a Wikipedia search, after selecting the appropriate selection, I came across a pretty good description of the man, his past, some of his views and a brief history of the 2006 race thus far.

What I found interesting was the following paragraph:

"In a Quinnipiac University poll conducted in December, 2005, Casey lost a third of his supporters when they were informed that he is pro-life. Although he retained 66% of his supporters, that placed him in a statisical dead heat with Rick Santorum. [9] Subsequent polls in which candidate positions are identified similarly show Bob Casey weakening, with a Zogby Poll showing his Democratic primary opponents polling higher than Casey. [10]"

That little nugget was very revealing to me and very comforting. Why have I not seen more analysis like this?

I believe that as more polls become available, the information in the above poll will become more revealing than we have known up to this point. Future polls will continue to show a Casey slide. And as we move towards election day, Santorum's numbers will rise.

Casey-Santorum Numbers: 48-38

According to Rassmussen Reports Senator Santorum trails Bobby Casey Jr by 10 points, down from 16 points in his last poll.
Two key statistics which seem interesting at first glance. First the 6 point swing. Second Bobby Casey is under 50% for the first time since Rasmussen began tracking the race in August.
Santorum's highest poll is 41% clear back in July while Casey polled highest in November with 54%.

Of course its a long way out and Rick has a long ways to go but this may be an indication that Casey's silence is starting to wear down. (Has the Santorum Campaign mentioned lately that Casey has only spoken out on 2 issues that Santorum has voted on. Santorum has voted 153 times in the Senate since the campaign asked Bobby to state his positions on the issues before the Senate? Of Course with Bobby's work ethic he probably wouldn't be making all of those pesky votes See Wherescasey.com with a new section on taxes)

527 legislation

Great article in the Washington Post today.

This could be important here in PA.
There is legislation pending on 527 groups, the 527 tax designation allowed unlimited donations for political purposes after soft money was banned by McCain-Feingold legislation.

John McCain is now sponsering legislation capping donations to 527s to $5,000 a year. This would have disastrous effects for many liberal 527 groups who depend on millions of dollars from the likes of George Soros.

Conservatives are of two minds on this. The pro-legislation group includes GOP Chair Ken Mellman who said this:

Republicans "must reform 527s, so that everyone plays at the same level, and billionaires can't once again use loopholes to try to buy elections."

Other Conservatives say that it runs counter to Conservative principles, that it smacks of political expediency and worry about silencing groups like the Swift Boat Veterans and Progress for America.

My thought:

If we are to have fair elections we must have as equal of a playing field as possible. I didn't support the McCain-Feingold legislation but it is now the law of the land and should apply to all political groups instead of just select political groups. Ultimately, I think it should be appealed but until that day happens, and it is a long way off, we need to make the best of the system and rules we have. This bill will go along ways to 'making the best of it.'

Pennachio cries foul

Full story here

"It's unfair, it's unbalanced and it's actually electioneering,"

That's how Chuck Pennachio described his treatment by Pennsylvania's pollsters. He is claiming that because he is mentioned so far down in the poll that this is a sort of push poll for the Casey Campaign. He claims that voters are fatigued by the time they get to his name. Pollsters are now taking the unusual step of criticizing a candidate with Christopher Borick of Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion poll saying:

"What we really found incredibly reckless was throwing around the word 'push poll,' which in our line of business is a horrible tool that masks as polling and is used by campaigns unethically to sway voters under the auspices of polling,"

Chuck should be glad that a marginal candidate at best is even being mentioned in a poll. First he complains about not being in the poll now he complains about the manner in which he is mentioned in the poll.

Santorum leading the way in the fight against global disease

When a political science class I was in interviewed Senator Santorum he said that one of his proudest accomplishments was his work on AIDs legislation, saying according to my notes 'that's my baby.'

The Senator is proving that once again. He, joined by Democratic Senator Dick Durbin, led an effort to increase AIDS, TB, and Malaria funding by $566 million to $866 million. These funds are vitally needed to help eradicate these diseases. It shows what a Senator can accomplish when he has clear ideas and policies. It also helps debunk the myth that the Senator cannot work with his Democratic Colleauges.

For some more background to this editorial

Casey snuggles up to pro-abortion politicians

At the same Philadelphia fundraiser mentioned below another Casey's campaign was quick to point out how many pro abortion people there were at the event.

From the story:

"officials at Mr. Casey's campaign were quick to point out that many of the
organizers and attendees favor abortion rights. And the letter from the
Democratic senators urged potential guests to give their "full support" to Mr.
Casey's campaign. "

Can anyone doubt that the Democratic party's pro-abortion leadership is only supporting Casey so the can once again push their unlimited abortion agenda on the rest of the country? Can we really trust Casey and his Democratic friends with the lives of unborn children?

Albright: Republicans Wanted War

Full story here
In a pretty embarrassing political attack at a Casey fundraiser Former Secretary of State Madeline Albright said that Republicans wanted a ground war in Iraq clear back in 1998. She offered no names, no evidence and nor any background as to why some thought this.

Isn't funny that Madeline Albright is taking the Casey Campaign tactic in making a hollow charge, offering no substantial evidence, and then offering no substantive alternative policy or vision of her own. Interesting.

The Fundraiser netted $100,000 for Casey's issueless campaign.

Featherman Exit Statement

John Featherman has put out a very gracious statement on his exit from the Senate race.

On March 14, 2006, Pennsylvania GOP executive director Scott Migli and political director Allison Coccia filed a petition in Commonwealth Court to remove my name from the ballot for the Republican Primary for the office of United States Senator. This challenge came four days after Senator Rick Santorum invited me to debate him. On March 15, 2006, I met with the counsel from the state GOP. Their case was legitimate and strong. We simply did not have enough registered Republican signers on our nomination petitions. Rather than belabor the inevitable, I withdrew.

Shortly afterwards, Senator Santorum called me to thank me for the professional manner in which I handled the situation. He was sincere and personable. We chatted briefly, during which time I told him that he has my full support when it comes to his tireless efforts on behalf of the small businesses in Pennsylvania. While Senator Santorum and I may have different solutions on social issues, I am 100% behind him on his solutions to building Pennsylvania's economy. So are the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Federation of Independent Business, which both recently gave him a 100% rating.

Read the whole thing...

Hey Senator!

Dig this!

Beltway Blogroll is rounding up a list of blogs that politicians read on a daily basis. Senator Santorum responded with his list...

Santorum's national list reads mostly like a who's who of the conservative blogosphere, with one noteworthy exception: Eschaton. But that liberal blog is authored by Philadelphia-based writer Duncan Black, who writes under the pen name Atrios, and has a huge following, so it makes sense for Santorum to be reading it regularly.

The other blogs on Santorum's list are:
-- Capitol Report
-- The Corner
-- GrassrootsPA
-- Pajamas Media
-- PennPatriot Online
-- PolitcsPA (not a blog in my book, but it's on the list)
-- Power Line
-- RealClearPolitics
-- RedState
-- Right Wing News
-- And Santorum Blog (an unoffical, pro-Santorum blog)

*ahem ahem* less federal spending!! *cough cough*

I would have thought DailyKos or MyDD would have been on the list. I've been reading those and the New Republic's blog the Plank regularly.

Santorum's Challenge

An excellent synopsis of the race at the Washington Times.

Carville for Casey

Philly Inquirer...

"The road we are on is far too often about partisanship and ideology and dividing people," Casey said last week as he introduced James Carville, the hot-blooded Democratic strategist, at a Philadelphia fund-raiser. "We have got to bring people together."

Carville, however, did his own thing. He took the stage at Zanzibar Blue and delivered an eight-minute condemnation of Sen. Rick Santorum (R., Pa.).

"Nowhere, nobody, anywhere, has been a greater servant of power than Rick Santorum," Carville said. "It is like he was put on Earth to please power. ... 'Mr. Insurance Company, what can I do for you? Mr. Pharmaceutical, what can I do for you? Mr. Falwell, what can I do for you?' Wherever there is power, Rick Santorum has been there to serve it and please it."

The Santorum campaign made its own contribution to the affair, sending a bottle of liquid Tide to the restaurant. "Keep it clean," chirped a Santorum spokeswoman, explaining why they sent the soap.

Deafening...

The silence from Bob Casey is starting to get on people's nerves.

Last April, I wrote a column posing two questions for Robert P. Casey Jr., the likely Democratic nominee in this year's U.S. Senate race. When was he going to launch a serious campaign to dislodge Rick Santorum? And, as a socially conservative Democrat, how was he going to differentiate himself from the two-term Republican scold on touchy issues that cut both ways in this state?

Eleven months later, still no answers. That is bad news for Pennsylvania voters who are itching to send the Maestro of K Street packing.

As far as I can tell, Mr. Casey's campaign consists mainly of raising money and firing off e-mail salvos of the "I'm not Rick" variety -- I'm not a shill for corrupt lobbyists like he is, I won't preach morality while having none like he does, etc.

...

Mr. Casey has no serious opposition in the primary. But in a midterm general election where turnout tends to be low, he's going to have to get out the vote big time. The Republican base is certain to show up. How is he going to get the Democratic base to do the same?

Unless he's writing off those votes, which would be spectacularly wrong-headed, ducking the issues won't work. It's already out there that he opposes abortion and would have voted to confirm John Roberts and Samuel Alito for the Supreme Court. He's going to have to give those voters other positive reasons to support him.

Swing Voters

Post-Gazette...

But the question of how many women will stay home is creating interesting calculations in the campaign war rooms. One is whether the desire among Democrats to topple Mr. Santorum can balance out the women the campaign will lose on abortion. Another is whether Mr. Casey's positions on abortion and gun rights can bring back significant numbers of conservative Democrats who have been voting Republican.

...

One of those people is Jeanne K.C. Clark, of Shadyside, who heads a group known as Women Leaders Online and says she corresponds constantly with women across Pennsylvania who share her frustration with Mr. Casey's views on abortion, stem cell research, the Patriot Act and Justice Alito.

"He doesn't just need people to vote for him, he needs people to work for him," Ms. Clark said of Mr. Casey, adding that when she goes to the polls this November, she expects to leave the Casey-Santorum choice blank.

"I have been involved in every campaign since I turned 21 ... and I know that, where I live in Pittsburgh and across the state, the Democrats poured out their hearts for John Kerry. And they did it for [Governor] Ed Rendell, but they didn't do it for [2000 Democratic Senate candidate] Ron Klink, and they're not about to do it for Bob Casey."

Sorry!

Pennacchio acknowledges confusion.

A candidate seeking the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate is backing away from his earlier claim that Treasurer Robert P. Casey Jr., also a candidate, won't debate opponents if questions on abortion and stem-cell research are permitted.

Yet there remains no consensus on who -- if anyone -- suggested limiting issues that the three Democrats vying to challenge U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., will discuss during an April 8 debate.

The contradiction led to accusations between Democratic camps and fueled Republican charges that Casey is afraid to face his opponents and voters.

Chuck Pennacchio, a college professor from Bucks County, said he mistakenly blamed Casey's campaign for trying to restrict the debate on the Slippery Rock University campus.

"I got my signals crossed," Pennacchio said Thursday night.

"I made a mistake, and I just want to be corrected," he said, offering to apologize to Casey, if necessary.

Casey Endorsed by State Dems

Pennlive/AP

The Democratic State Committee