Santorum similarly pissed off the Conservative base by endorsing Arlen Specter over Pat Toomey (how’d that work out for him ? Arlen sure helped, not). Bob Casey, Jr. (who had won office in PA statewide three times) marketed himself as the second coming of his dad, who was revered by Social Conservatives for his pro-life activism (who didn’t just talk the talk, but walked the walk). A lot of old timers thought Casey, Jr. WAS his dad. Add up those two and an overall decline in GOP turnout, and the Casey win wasn’t a huge surprise.
Really, then why is Specter still there and Santorum is not? I have heard this argument before, and I don’t buy it. Casey-a pro-life Democrat was a perfect candidate to run against Santorum. As for conservatives not supporting this candidate and another candidate...the result is always the same...a Democrat wins...hardly an good outcome.