Santorum's aggressiveness pays off in second debate
By pennpatriot Comments (8) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
I was so embarrassed at one point by the shouting between the two candidates that I actually had to look away from the T.V. What was billed as a debate between two high profile, seasoned Pennsylvania politicians turned into an elementary school shouting match.
This being said. In my opinion, it was a brilliant strategy by Rick Santorum and helped him soundly win the debate for several reasons. Santorum basically baited Casey into a shouting match by aggressively confronting him from the very start of the debate. It was classic. Santorum set the tone and Casey took the bait hook, line and sinker. Casey lost his cool and engaged Santorum toe to toe in the center of the ring so to speak. You guessed it. Santorum TKOed Casey in the first round.
Most of the calls to the PCN's live call in show after the debate confirms this assessment of Casey's performance. Some even indicated that tonight's debate changed their minds about who they were going to vote for in November.
By aggressively challenging Casey, Santorum showed Pennsylvania voters a different side of Bob Casey for the first time. The Bob Casey that debated Rick Santorum tonight wasn't the Pennsylvania golden boy that everyone heard about in the media and assumed from the start of this race. Many voters now see Bob Casey in a very different light. This was a major victory for Santorum
Santorum might be desperate to win re-election as Casey pointed out in the debate, but Casey himself came off as a spoiled, pampered, cry baby that complains about everything without offering a viable alternative. Santorum quickly used the desperation accusations by Casey to his advantage by reminding voters at the end of the debate that his is a fighter.
It was was clear during the debate that Santorum has a better grasps of the issues than Casey. Casey didn't even know the name of the former Iranian President that just recently visited the United States. Something voters probably don't know. But it is something we all agree that a U.S. Senate candidate should know. This will cause many voters to question Casey's understanding of foreign policy issues.
The most interesting part of the debate in my view was when Casey was asked about whether or not he would run for another office if he would win this Senate race. Specifically he was asked if he would run for Governor at some point in the future. Casey was all over the map with his answer and played right into Santorum's accusation that Casey just likes running for office.
No matter how much you disagree with Santorum on the issues, it is clear after tonight's debate that Santorum is clearly the better candidate in this race.
For more Pennsylvania Politics check out VoicePA.
You think I'm a "Toomeyphile". You couldn't be more wrong. And if lump "paleocons and Buchananites" in with libertarians, then you don't understand libertarians at all.
As toward the likes of Pat Toomey or Buchanan, libertarians see things they like and despise in so many politicians. Toomey and Buchanan are great in some areas, horrible in others. Same with Santorum.
Don't tread on me.
You should try having Senators Schumer and Clinton for your representatives, as I do, and then ask yourself, "does Rick Santorum deserve my support?"
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I'd gladly vote for him.
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If you're seeing shades of gray, it's because you're not looking close enough to see the black and white dots.
And I am very proud to be able to say that. I watched the debate last night and he performed brilliantly. I hope you win Rick. I am pulling for you.
I live in PA. And I must say, for such a high profile race, the choices at hand simply stink. Casey's running to the middle, Santorum has spent the last year pandering and voting to the middle.
I've read articles that allude the the idea that both national parties are parties will use victory in this race to validtae a certain "winning " image. They couldn't be more wrong...again.
If Casey wins, the Dems will cheer that the centrist, social conservative, fiscal populist platform with a hawkish stance on Iraq (by dem standards) knocked off a high profile Republican and this is the formula for future success...wrong.
If Rick wins, the GOP will tout Santorum's turn around by citing his strange voting over the last year as he voted for fiscal bills like raising the minimum wage and other protectionist measures and also use it as a general validation of the GOP's total record in recent years. And it would also be a validation that Rick (and others) journey away from the small government, fiscal conservative platform that got them to DC in the first place is not an issue with voters.
Me?, I disagree with both conclusions. This is simply a political battle and a power struggle. And for my tastes, neither represents the kind of senator I'd like to have.
Santorum has the endorsement of the NFIB, of which I'm a member, so that's a plus in his column. But regardless, I'll be holding my nose in the booth on Nov. 7 and neither party should draw too much from the results other than a simple win.
The better standbearers lie elsewhere...though I'm sure where.
Don't tread on me.