Already frustrated with the Democratic Party for putting forward an anti-abortion candidate to run against Republican Sen. Rick Santorum, Kate Michelman, former president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, says she has been asked by a number of women's groups and Democratic donors to jump into the hotly contested U.S. Senate race in Pennsylvania as an independent. The final straw? When Santorum's Democratic challenger, Bob Casey, endorsed the nomination of Samuel Alito Jr. to the U.S. Supreme Court. 'After Casey announced his support for Alito, I got calls from around the country,' says Michelman, a resident of the Keystone State since 1969. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee declined to comment, and a call to EMILY's List, a group that supports abortion rights candidates for elected office, went unreturned.Read it here.
Of course, Michelman hasn't a snowball's chance of winning, but she could disrupt the calculus of the race. On the one hand her candidacy would highlight Casey's moderation in a race where he hopes to occupy the middle range. On the other, it could possibly draw support away from him and energize Santorum's base which has still not forgiven him for supporting Specter two years ago.
Either way, it'll make the race more interesting, so I gotta say...,
Run Kate, run!
UPDATE: The Inky's article on Kate's candidacy is here. There are three minor candidates in the race who are pro-choice, but none of them has gained any traction whatsoever, so if the feminist faction wants to mount a challenge to Santorum and Casey, both of whom are pro-life, they need a high-profile candidate and Kate thinks she might just be the one.
I wonder, will Hillary campaign for her?
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