Wait, there are other races going on? Surely I jest, right?
Not only that, there's PA-Sen news that doesn't involve the Green Party, Markos's four or five FP posts aside.
First up, the latest on the race
Rasmussen Reports (R) poll has been released and shows
Pennsylvania State Treasurer Bob Casey leading Sen. Rick Santorum by - you guessed it - double-digits.
Casey 50%
Santorum 39%
Rasmussen did not include Green candidate Carl Romanelli, but if he's receiving as much support from voters as he has from activists not already committed to another candidate, his share of the vote should be negligible. (More on his bid later.)
This is unchanged from the June survey, which had it pegged at 52-37 - an improvement for Santorum, but close to the MoE. It compares favorably to a recent Muhlenberg survey which saw Casey's lead cut to six points. Hopefully, this will spare us from yet another round of "Casey is collapsing" diaries. (On another note, I'd like to ask McCall writer John Micek how Santorum's positive ads could have accounted for this, given that his numbers didn't change from their last survey - he's at 39% and 38%, respectively.)
Casey is regarded favorably by 66% of voters, but Rasmussen didn't provide his unfavorables. Santorum is viewed favorably by 44%, and unfavorably by 50%. There's a hard core of 30% who view him "very unfavorably." With a ceiling of 70%, he's going to find a majority of voters elusive.
In other news, Gov. Ed Rendell (who's been whupping neophyte challenger Lynn Swann for the last couple of months) is trying to atone for his earlier, inexplicable praise of Santorum, which many saw as a stab in the back to Casey, the man Rendell recruited for the job. Santorum has already started using the Governor's praise in the southeast corner of the state, where Ed is still a larger-than-life figure from his days as Philly mayor.
Rendell, who said that "Santorum delivers" for Pennsylvania and asked "How could I be tearing a new rear end for someone who worked effectively to get flood relief for Pennsylvania?", delivered his official endorsement of Casey yesterday, and came out swinging.
"Make no mistake, my endorsement of Bob Casey is not just because I think Rick Santorum has failed in many areas, but it is because I think Bob Casey is an exceptional young man and he will do exactly what he says," Rendell said.
Rendell was his boisterous self at the rally, interacting with people on the crowd and breaking into "Hear, hear!" at several points whenever someone praised Casey. Hopefully, this presages more joint appearances this fall.
"What he says" in this case refers specifically to enivronmental concerns. Rendell and Casey's official reason for being in Montgomery County yesterday was to highlight their commitment to higher mercury-admission standards, fuel efficiency, and investment in renewable energy. Both men have been endorsed by the League of Conservation Voters, the Sierra Club and Clean Water Action.
Unless you're very, very new to dKos, you may have learned that Pennsylvania Green Party financed their peition drive to get their candidate, Carl Romanelli, on the ballot, almost entirely with Republican money. Heres one of Markos' posts on the subject.
PA State Dem chairman T.J. Rooney (who, as far I know, is unrelated to Mickey, Andy, and Art) has vowed to challenge the signatures, saying in a press release that a cursory examination revealed several discrepancies, such as the same name being used multiple times, and nonexistent addresses. The Green Party hired the firm JSM Inc. to do much of the work, a firm with a history of cutting corners on petition work.
