Word on the street is that Bob Casey Jr. is contemplating a run to replace conservative golden boy Rick Santorum in 2006 (see here – via A Green Conservatism). Casey, the son of late Pa. governor Bob Casey was just elected State Treasurer by an overwhelmeing margin and has long had designs on the Governor’s mansion (he lost in a primary contest with Ed Rendell, the current governor), so it’s not clear if he would agree to run against Santorum. But it seems that if he did, he would stand a very good chance indeed.
Casey, like his father, is a pro-life Democrat (yes, that Bob Casey who was denied a speaking slot at the ’92 Democratic convention because of his pro-life stance or because he refused to back Clinton, depending on who you ask), a rare bird that has garnered increasing interest as the Dems have been casting about for ideas to win back disaffected red-state voters. Pennsylvania is a blue, but just barely, and largely because of Philadelphia and its suburbs (which have been traditionally been Republican but have lately been trending Democratic) and Pittsburgh. The rest of Pa. tends to be socially conservative, and centrist to liberal on economics – these are not generally libertarians, but “Reagan democrats,” farmers, union members, hunters and outdoorsmen.
Thus someone like Casey, who is pro-life, pro-gun rights and moderate to progressive on economics could do quite well in the vast Pennsylvania hinterlands (I say that affectionately – I grew up in those hinterlands!) and hold on to the urban Democrats (if you’re a pro-choice Democrat, you’re still going to prefer Bob Casey Jr. to Rick Santorum).
The question is whether Casey will see a Senate run as an unwanted diversion from his quest for the governor’s mansion in 2008.
A propos of all this, see this from January’s First Things.
A Thinking Reed 