2012 Watch: Santorum stumping, an opponent for Casey

In politics, it’s never too  early to start thinking about the future. And so, former Senator Rick Santorum has been on the 2012 presidential circuit, with appearances in Iowa, New Hampshire and, of course, the Conservative Political Action Conference last weekend.

“Against the advice of my wife,” Santorum said during his address to the conference Saturday, “I endorsed Arlen Specter.”

He responded to the boos with a folksy “My sentiments exactly!”

“How…

February 22, 2010 at 9:15 am | Comments (8)

Senate update: They’re in town?

NEW YORK—After much speculation that Senators Arlen Specter and Bob Casey would miss the Pennsylvania Society weekend here, we’re hearing that both have made it into town for the tail end of the festivities.

We bumped into a couple Specter aides who said the senator is already here or will be shortly, and we’re hearing the same thing about Casey a day after his missed his own event.

Both were in Washington with the Senate…

December 12, 2009 at 2:19 pm | Comments (1)

Day 1 rumor mill and wrap up

NEW YORK—It was a day of non-stop politicking here Friday in midtown Manhattan. Here are a few things we’re hearing.

-—Lonely in D.C: Looks like the health care debate in Washington held up Senators Bob Casey and Arlen Specter. It may even make them miss whole weekend, but we hear they might show up later on Saturday. Specter certainly can’t afford to miss important moments for all the guff he’s given Joe Sestak about his…

December 12, 2009 at 6:54 am | Comments (0)

Casey: ‘I think Gov. Rendell will do just fine’

Asked about Gov. Ed Rendell’s slipping approval ratings Wednesday, Senator Bob Casey said the governor would “do just fine” coming out of a contentious budget season, and said the larger economic downturn was largely to blame.

“He’s living through, as every governor is, a very difficult budget situation, but that is connected to our economy and revenues,” Casey said on MSNBC.

He also said that health care reform was still a way off.

“I think…

July 29, 2009 at 1:47 pm | Comments (0)

Five Democrats who could shake up the Governor’s race

For months, Democratic insiders have looked at their party’s field for Governor and asked: “Is this it?”

And that was before Lehigh County Executive Don Cunningham stepped aside. The candidates that remain are perceived front-runner Dan Onorato, the Allegheny County Executive, state Auditor General Jack Wagner and Philadelphia businessman Tom Knox. While those candidates would surely wave off such a perception, there’s no denying that people on both sides of the aisle consider…

July 8, 2009 at 2:14 pm | Comments (16)

Bad news for Specter: Only 28 percent want him re-elected

Only 28 percent of Pennsylvanians believe Senator Arlen Specter deserves to be re-elected, according to a poll released today by the Center for Opinion Research at Franklin & Marshall College. In an F&M survey in March, 40 percent said Specter should be re-elected. Specter left the Republicans for the Democratic party on April 28.

Specter’s job approval ratings also dropped, from 52 percent in March to 34 percent now. Among Democrats, Specter…

June 25, 2009 at 9:46 am | Comments (3)

Casey says his support for Specter is strong

PITTSBURGH—Ever since Senator Arlen Specter switched parties, his Democratic colleague in the Senate, Bob Casey, has arguably been more quiet than most any elected official in  voicing support for Specter.

But Casey doesn’t see it that way. At the Democratic State Committee dinner here Friday night, Casey told pa2010.com that he’s backing Specter as much as anyone esle.

“I said from the beginning that I support him,” Casey said. “I hope he can avoid a…

June 5, 2009 at 7:57 pm | Comments (0)

Leftover QPoll numbers

A few more statistics from yesterday’s Quinnipiac poll, which showed Republican Pat Toomey gaining on Senator Arlen Specter:

-Specter’s lead among Democrats remains formidable, with 73 percent supporting him. The same proportion of Republicans, though, support Toomey.

-Independents, not surprisingly, seem likely to sway the race. Specter currently leads among the group 43 percent to 33 percent, but 19 percent are undecided.

-While Specter holds huge leads in his Philadelphia-area base, the numbers…

May 29, 2009 at 8:59 am | Comments (0)

Post-Obama world holds dangers for Democrats, too

Three more notes on the rapidly shifting, post-Obama political world and how it makes predictions so difficult:

First, very interesting post by Daniel Livingston on Bob Casey and his response to Sotomayor. Sure, he’ll support her, but won’t he have some misgivings about her supposedly pro-abortion stance? Come to think of it, how do we even know if she is pro-abortion? There are already reports that no one actually knows her position. Is…

May 29, 2009 at 8:39 am | Comments (0)

Specter and Sotomayor

Interesting to see his response. I suspect he will ask all sorts of seemingly tough questions to demonstrate that he’s still a player, but hard to see him opposing her. He is too new as a Democrat and has already annoyed too many people on peripheral issues. Maybe he’ll go after anyone who questions her—a sort of Anita Hill in reverse, although one doubts that similar issues will arise.

Perhaps more interesting is the response…

May 27, 2009 at 7:33 am | Comments (0)