Good News from the Pennsylvania Heartland

[LynneSin]

My mother mentioned to ME about how Bob Casey was ahead by 14pts. Now mind you, mom has been a republican all of her life but she's an old-school republican, not this neo-conservative fundamentalist crap. So I asked her "You're not thinking of voting for Santorum are you?" Then she goes on about how she's always like the Casey family and how they just seemed like such nice people and the kids all turned out nice. And she mentioned she's tired of all the crappy ads that Santorum is running about Casey.

Maybe this just means a few more votes in rural PA, but I think the tactic that Casey has been doing has been working out to his advantage. First off, people in Pennsylvania know the Casey family - Dad was a 2-term governor and Jr has won statewide for both Auditor General and Treasurer. In rural Pennsylvania you'd be hardpress to find anyone who has something bad to say about Casey (and I'm talking about the political neophytes not political junkies). I also truly believe that the negative ads are making a major hit against Santorum and I wouldn't be suprised if that's what has accounted for Casey's number going back up again (previous poll Casey was below 50% but in the lead, now he is at 54%).

I'm really hoping that this is it for Rick Santorum. If we lose every other major election except this one, I'll still be a happy camper (well to a point)!

[aquart]

1. Character counts. Again. Finally.

Thanks for the good news.

[napi21]

2. I don't know if I can say I'd be a happy camper if Rickey is the only

Pub who lost his Senate seat, but I SURE will be HAPPY IF HE DOES!!!!!

There's quite a few more Pubs on my list, and of course one Dem...Lieberman!!!!!!

I have quite a few relatives still living in Pgh, Pa. and all of them detest Samtorum, and I haven't heard anything good about him from anywhere else other than his OWN Campaign!

[dajoki]

3. If Santorum goes down...

I'll be doing back flips.

[GoneOffShore]

4. Gonna be Champagne and frites for us!

F**K the cholesterol!

[alcibiades_mystery]

5. Central PA here

The wife works with many Repubs, and they're all sticking with Ricky, strangely enough. I think it's just becaiuse they're embarrassed about Bush, and can't admit that they were wrong yet. Still, only a few ridiculous Santorum and Swann signs (you'd expect more here), and hardly any bumper stickers. It's getting embarrassing. Problem for Ricky is that he has to carry counties like this one big if he is gonna overcome the abolsutely energized urban/suburban vote against him. I don't see it happening. There's been a notable sapping of GOP energy in Central PA since Katrina. I expect it's the same everywhere. Their excuses are half-hearted, and grow more despondent with every passing month of the failed war. The Bushies decided sometime around 2003 that they were going to go with a benchmark tactic in Iraq...the next three months are crucial, this election, that election, blah blah blah. This is a gamble, because if nothing substantive changes for the better, then the more benchmarks you put out, the less effective each is in holding off the storm. And that's what's happened. We have no end of benchmarks, a dulling, infuriating parade of them, and nothing happens.

In Vietnam, there were these big events, like Tet, that set people in one direction of the other. This war is utterly different. It is the never-ending routinization of it that is getting people on edge. Hell, people almost want something big to happen to make the thing tip. But no. The same after the same after the same. Now Tony Blankley goes around saying that war has just begun, and that we're going to be at this for a generation? Hilarious. Good luck with that strategy. We've been at it for three years and people are fed up. A generation? He must be joking. In Shakespeare's version of Mark Antony's speech, he notes, about Julius Caesar and Brutus, "ingratitude, more strong thant traitors' arms, quite vanquished him." We might amend this for Iraq and the American imaginary: boredom, more strong than definitive battle, quite vanquished us. We are a culture that thrives on perpetual transformation: new, new, new. More blades on the razor, more new TV shows, new cars, new music, new styles, every spring, summer and fall. New! If the Iraqi insurgents have planned this strategy, they are brilliant: don't give them anything new. Just the low hum of 2.3 Americans killed a day, the low hum of car bombs, every day, more bodies for the morgue, every day, never anything different, just the same after the same, after the same. It's making people crazy. Newness is a luxury. It's our lazy, slothful luxury to seek the new perpetually. The third world has never had such a luxury, and when you don't have it, you view the world differently.

[LynneSin]

6. What part of Central PA?

I was born and raised in Perry County. How I ended up a democrat is beyond me that county is so fricking red.

I'm wondering how the popularity of Tim Holden will help Bob Casey in Central PA. I've read where Holden will probably be re-elected again - I really want this push of just pull the democratic lever and be done

[Sugarcoated]

7. I think I've seen only seen one man-on-dog sign here

outside of Philadelphia. Several Swann signs, but standing alone. Got my Rendell and Alison Schwarz signs up, but the HQ person said Casey's not putting any money into signs at this time, she took my name and number for when they come in. It's amazing the lead Casey has with few commercials (at least here in SE PA) and no signs. I sure hope he's running ads in the rest of the state.