Pennsylvania Politics -- A Referendum on Santorum

The New York Times summarizes the current state of the Pennsylvania Senate Race -- I read it so you don't have to. A point by point summary:

-- Santorum is still behind.

-- Santorum is trying to project a moderate image and emphasizing his record of constituent service.

-- This didn't work for Al D'Amato in New York and probably won't for Rick.

-- Santorum's moderate turn shows that the conservative movement has run its course.

-- Santorum is wrong to think that voters' views on Casey will matter much because this race is basically a referendum on Santorum's conservatism, and the voters will probably reject him.

-- Santorum has a big war chest and will start getting really dirty soon and will try to smear nice guy Bob Casey.

-- Santorum is running away from Bush and proclaiming his independence, but he is Bush's tool.

-- Santorum has "gone Washington."

-- But Ed Rendell thinks he is still dangerous.

Not particularly informative or objective, but what did you expect? It's the New York Times.

Read it here.

Don't believe it -- neither Rick nor the conservative movement is dead. The problem is that they are at odds with one another.

Rick's problem is not that he can't attract moderates -- it's that in the past he has alienated conservatives. Rick was never the ideological zealot that the Times and the Inquirer, parroting a Democrat campaign theme, made him out to be. He has always been a right-center moderate. His ill-considered support of Arlen Specter two years ago severely compromised his credibility among the conservatives, and since then they just don't trust him. That's what the charge that he has "gone Washington" is all about.

The real story of this campaign is not, as the Times would have it, that a right-winger is trying to play at being a moderate, it's that a right-center moderate is desperately trying to reach out to the hostile conservative wing of his party.

You can always trust the NYT to get the story wrong.