Nothing would make liberal pundits happier than to bury the political career of Sen. Rick Santorum. In that spirit, his enemies have gone ahead and picked out the plot, carved the headstone, and retained the caterer.
The problem is that this corpse still has a pulse. This week, race front runner Bob Casey agreed to hold a series of debates this Fall for the hotly contested PA Senate seat. The Casey concession is the clearest sign yet that this race is a toss-up. While poll rolling averages still has Sen. Santorum down by a few to several points, Pennsylvania's junior senator has everything to gain from a head-on, knock-down drag-out brawl with the less experienced and woefully ineloquent Casey. As Pennsylvanians return from the Jersey Shore, tanned and refocused, they will witness a veteran political fighter contrasted against someone who (no offense) has thus far coasted on an excellent family name. At that point the race becomes exclusively local, and turnout may be the ultimate broker of victory.
Do not be mistaken: Rick Santorum is still in extreme peril. He may very well lose, weighted further by a weak GOP gubernatorial campaign. But when analyzed in the context of the larger picture, the competitiveness of Pennsylvania's senate seat is disastrous news for Democrats. Santorum was target numero uno for Chuck Schumer and the DSCC. If a member of the Republican leadership can hold on in a blue state against the Pennsylvania equivalent of a Kennedy in Massachusetts, then the much anticipated title wave of disapproval is little more than a passing breaker for the GOP and a very much living Rick Santorum.
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