Those of us in Pennsylvania know that Mr. Santorum has been conducting town hall meetings concerning the supposed Social Security crisis, many of them on college campuses. In Pennsylvania, with the second highest population of Seniors in the country, folks who vote, he's going out to try to convince the younger part of the electorate. Go figure. And get this, he's doing so on campuses where young people are scared of Santorum's crusading on cultural issues such as gays marriage. This tour seems as poorly planned as the War on Terror, and that's saying a lot.
The New York Times reports on Mr. Santorum's visits, and it appears he will have some tough sledding ahead. One of the folks at Liberally Drinking last night attended the Drexel University meeting, and the Times description of the meeting matches hers. She saw very little support for Santorum or the BushCorp Social Security Agenda.
At Drexel University, for example, Mr. Santorum was greeted by protesters, was heckled during his speech by people declaring their loyalty to Lyndon LaRouche, and was asked several questions by young people on issues that had little to do with Social Security, including same-sex marriage and the global fight against AIDS.
Why is this important? Well, Mr. Santorum is in a leadership position in the Senate, so he must do these meetings, unlike other Republicans, such as Arlen Specter, Michael Fitzpatrick and Charles W. Dent, who are not active promoting Mr. Bush's Social Security agenda.
Arlen Specter, the senior Republican senator from the state, has said he has "an open mind" on the president's plan but wants to hear more details.
A spokesman for Representative Michael Fitzpatrick, a freshman Republican from the Philadelphia suburbs, said Mr. Fitzpatrick "cannot take a position on the president's plan until he sees the details," and he did not plan to hold a town meeting this week. Another freshman Republican from the area, Representative Charles W. Dent, said through a spokesman that he, too, "didn't think there was enough of a plan" from Mr. Bush "to have a position on."
Is Mr. Santorum hanging a losing campaign issue upon himself? Considering that older citizens skew Republican here in Pennsylvania, it would seem so. And his being out there and in front on this issue seems especially risky given that polling is showing that likely Democratic candidate Robert Casey is running ahead of Santorum in the polls.
Beating Santorum in '06 is vitally important, as big a deal as the Daschle defeat this past year (and without the help of shills like Guckert). So I'm here to say that I don't care about Bob Casey's anti-abortion history. Indeed, that history will help him win for the Democratic Party in what James Carville famously called the "Alabama" portions of the state. With Mr. Santorum trying his hardest to cede Seniors to the Democrats, we've got a VERY good chance to unseat Santorum. Hey, and wait until some candidate brings out the bit about him cheating the Penn Hills School District! That story continues to have legs. Santorum's solution to defending his scamming $100,000 worth of services from the district even though he doesn't live there? Change residency requirements. Yup, change the rules especially for him.
I predict we'll see the word "carpetbagger" in that election campaign. And I predict this will be the most exciting campaign in the country in '06.
