Pennsylvania Politics -- The Emerging CW

Howard Fineman, as always the repository of conventional wisdom, takes a look at the Pennsylvania Senate race between Rickey Santorum and Junior Casey. In particular he tries to figure out how the Iraq war will play in Pa. His conclusion -- well, he really doesn't have one [typical Howard], still it's worth checking out here.

RELATED:

AP has a nice overview of the Casey-Santorum race by Kimberly Hefling. In it she makes several interesting points that reflect themes that will be tried out over the coming months:

1) Casey has raised a LOT of money, but Santorum has more.

2) Casey’s pro-life stand undercuts some of Santorum’s appeal.

3) Both national parties are gearing up big time for this one.

4) Liberals, really, really, REALLY hate Santorum; he offends them on some basic level.

5) Democrats are trying out the line that Santorum is really interested in running for President and won’t serve out his term [that’s a laugher].

6) Santorum is emphasizing his consistency and principled stands, and ability to deliver for Pennsylvania due to his seniority.

7) Casey is running as a Washington outsider and denounces the poison partisanship that prevails within the beltway, much of which he blames on Santorum.

8) Democrats charge that Santorum is arrogant, but Casey is a nice guy.

9) General opinion is that Santorum is a lot smarter than Casey and therefore unlike most incumbents Rickey will seek debate opportunities that will give him a chance to demonstrate his opponents lack of mental acuity.

Like I said – this race is gonna be fun! Down and Dirty.

Read it here.