By The Prowler on 3.3.05 @ 12:09AM
But can Schumer deliver? And Santorum is primed.
Word was coming late Wednesday that Pennsylvania State Treasurer
Bob Casey, Jr. was prepared to announce as early
as Thursday or more likely Friday that he will throw his hat into
the ring to challenge Sen. Rick Santorum in 2006.
Casey has been actively recruited by both Senate Democratic leader
Harry Reid and Democratic Senatorial Campaign
Committee chairman Charles Schumer.
Casey, a pro-life Catholic, is viewed by the Democrats as the
strongest candidate they could field against the conservative
Catholic Santorum. Schumer and Reid, according to Democratic Senate
staffers, have both reached out to Casey in the past week and
before that were checking in regularly, gauging his interest and
trying to persuade him to run.
Schumer has gone so far as to promise to clear the field for
Casey, which would allow Casey to focus during the primary season
on reaching out to undecideds and firming up his Democratic base.
It would also allow him to save hundreds of thousands if not
millions of dollars for the general election.
But Schumer may not be able to keep that promise. Given Casey's
Catholicism and well-documented pro-life positions -- which he
shares with his revered late father, Gov. Bob
Casey -- a number of longstanding Democratic organizations
plan to oppose Casey and to finance their own candidate in the
Democratic primary.
EMILY's List and the National Organization for Women have been
looking for a pro-abortion candidate that they could put forward.
Both organizations have in the past been closely aligned with
Schumer, and thus far the man from New York has been sidestepping a
confrontation. "He's going to have to face these folks down, and
deal with his recruitment of Casey at some point," says a DSCC
staffer. "But across the board Democrats know that Casey makes
Santorum that much more vulnerable in 2006."
Santorum, though, has been anticipating a tough campaign from
the beginning -- Democrats had targeted him six months ago as a
vulnerable incumbent. Casey will have better name recognition than
many incumbent challengers, and Schumer and the national party will
make sure that he is well-financed.
But millions of dollars won't buy Casey the kind of energy and
personality that Santorum shows on the campaign trail, and that is
why Santorum remains a strong incumbent in an election cycle that
may see Republicans gain perhaps three additional Senate seats.
topics:
Harry Reid, Catholicism, Abortion, NATO, Energy
