Posted on 03/03/2005 5:35:15 AM PST by Born Conservative
With Democratic State Treasurer Robert P. Casey Jr. on the verge of announcing he will run for the U.S. Senate next year, fellow Democrat and former Treasurer Barbara Hafer surprised his camp Wednesday by beating him to the punch and entering the race.
"We're in it," Mrs. Hafer, 61, of Allegheny County, told The Associated Press. "I'm getting a campaign up and running."
Earlier in the day, two sources close to Mr. Casey told The Tribune he was close to announcing a run for the Democratic Senate nomination and a fall contest against U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, the presumptive Republican candidate now in his second term. The sources said an announcement could come as early as today, but an official in the Casey camp declined to confirm his intent to run.
Efforts to reach Mr. Casey, 44, of Scranton, for comment were unsuccessful. Sources had previously said he was conditioning his entry into the race partly on having no Democratic opposition.
By the evening, Mrs. Hafer had left no doubt about her intentions, stunning the Casey camp sources who said they believed she would not run.
"I honestly don't know what it does to our decision," one source said, echoing another.
The race, which has attracted national attention, would pit the winner of the Democratic primary election against Mr. Santorum of Penn Hills.
Mr. Casey and Mrs. Hafer differ most notably on abortion rights. She's pro-choice while he and Mr. Santorum oppose abortion.
Mrs. Hafer, 61, said Emily's List -- a Washington-based group that helps elect Democratic women who support abortion rights -- has sent two staffers to help her assess the race and begin organizing.
Mrs. Hafer, who served eight years as state auditor general and eight more as treasurer, was a longtime Republican who endorsed Democrat Ed Rendell for governor in 2002 and switched parties in December 2003.
Mr. Casey had previously shrugged off suggestions to run for Congress and the Senate, preferring to concentrate on becoming governor someday. But he impressed national Democrats looking for a challenger to Mr. Santorum with his credentials as a moderate and his 3.3-million vote total in winning the treasurer's job in November. It was a record for a statewide candidate.
Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and Sen. Charles Schumer of New York, the new chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, have relentlessly courted him. The committee backs Democratic Senate candidates across the country.
Mr. Casey was especially interested in running if the committee was ready to pony up major financial support and assure an opponent-free primary election, sources said.
The campaign would be Mr. Casey's fourth in seven years, but his first for federal office. He was elected treasurer in November after eight years as state auditor general. He ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2002.
Before meeting with the senators, Mr. Casey set up a committee that could raise money for exploratory steps. He also commissioned a poll whose results were consistent with the later findings of an independent poll, one source said.
The independent Quinnipiac poll, which surveyed 1,250 Pennsylvania voters between Feb. 10-14, found Mr. Casey had the support of 46 percent of the voters compared to 41 percent for Mr. Santorum. The same poll had Mr. Santorum with more support than Mrs. Hafer -- 47 to 39 percent. Mrs. Hafer said her own poll shows she could compete against Mr. Santorum.
State Rep. T.J. Rooney, the state Democratic chairman who was considering running himself, told the Associated Press he won't.
When asked last week during an appearance in Scranton, Mr. Santorum said he was unconcerned about his opposition.
"Whomever his opponent is, he looks forward to a spirited debate to discuss issues important to Pennsylvanians, such as saving and strengthening Social Security for future generations and promoting economic growth and job creation for hard-working Pennsylvanians," Mr. Santorum's press secretary, Christine Shott, said Wednesday.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS contributed to this report.
I disagree. If abortion is an issue in the primary (and if Casey and Hafer both run, it will be), many of the liberal mainliners will be too disappointed to vote in the general if it ends up being a Casey/Santorum match.
I'd like to think that the pro-aborts have been sufficiently cowed by the latest election results to have lost a lot of their influence in politics. Hafer's a Republican, she's going to have way more credibility problems with Democrat primary voters than a pro-life Democrat with a pedigree would.
Unfortunately, Hafer is a non-factor. She only recently switched (officially) from the Republican to the Democrat Party and the last time she ran for governor, she not only nearly lost to a complete unknown in the primary, but she then lost the general election to Bob Casey, Sr. in one of the biggest gubernatorial landslides in Pennsylvania history. She has no chance against Junior, so I don't know what's going on here.
Also, I suspect that Santorum is so outspoken on behalf of conservative and life issues that he can't count on pro-aborts staying home on Election Day. He's made himself into a target much more than any other Republican I can think of.
Schumer promised Casey a clear foield..guaranteed him no primary if he ran..
She'll have trouble with some union members (teachers excluded, of course). But Ed Rendell and Barbara Hafer will hold love fests throughout the state which promises to make it a very tough race.
Hafer is running because Casey will be appointed to fill Specter's seat by Ed Rendell. There's no way that Casey was surprised by Hafer's announcement.
No way is Rendell going to get involved, much less for Heifer. Rendell promised Casey this nomination as consolation for his defeat in the Governor's primary.
Even if Rendell went door-to-door for Hafer, she still wouldn't have had any of his advantages that helped him beat Casey and then Mike Fisher: the personality that the Philly suburbanites seemed to love and the Philadelphia base itself.
Could be. But that's why Hafer would be the tougher opponent. As much as 6 more years of Santorum sickens the libs, a pro-life Dem is no picnic for them either.
Casey might like an appointment to an open seat if Specter were to resign or pass away, but he'd be a fool to count on such an opening when it may not come to pass and he's already polling better than Santorum for the '06 race.
I don't even see any signs that Specter is undergoing intensive treatment to fight the cancer. Is he still working?
You sound like you know more about his condition than I do.
What I remember is that he was given a 70% chance of survival over five years. I may be totally making that up, I don't know. Nonetheless, while he has a high probability of not surviving to the end of his term, with a prognosis like that there is no way of saying when death might come. Casey would be unable to plan, and if he looks like he's waiting for this "opportunity" to come, he looks very bad.
Specter was chairing Judiciary Committee hearings this week.
Stage four cancer would dictate immediate, aggressive treatment if there is any hope of survival for more than a short period, depending on where it started, and where it spread. Given that Specter seems to have declined treatment, my guess is that he probably has six months.
Specter is undergoing chemotherapy during which he'll continue working.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/ALLPOLITICS/02/16/specter.cancer/
I didn't know it was Hodgkins, that does have a better cure rate when it is caught early. I don't know about stage four, a lot would depend on where it has spread. The fact that he has the fevers and symptoms means that the cancer in his lymph system has depressed his immune system, increasing the likelihood of secondary infections like pneumonia. It still doesn't sound good.
Oops.
Schumer's name is MUD.
Interesting, and surprising.
IMHO, Hafer is no competition for the handsome, charismatic Casey who has his father's good looks and also his prolife philosophy.
Hafer is the definition of political hack. Emily's List? BAH! Who needs another pro-abortion feminist in the Senate?
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