Poor Rick Santorum. A few months ago, he was being hailed by his GOP brethren as a leading White House contender. Now it looks like the gay-bashing golden boy, who is running for a third term in Pennsylvania, may not even make it back to the Senate. According to a poll published yesterday in The Hill, the devoutly Catholic candidate is now trailing Democrat Bob Casey by 16 points. But as Santorum's campaign has lost steam, Capital Hill sources say his support from RNC heavies has also evaporated. The blow-dried bible-thumper, who launched his campaign with a giant war chest, is also being deserted by the party's major moneymen, who are focusing their largesse on more competitive candidates.

"This is how the Republicans operate," sighs a veteran GOP campaign manager close to Santorum. "Even if you agree with their agenda, they'll abandon you if you're behind in the polls and move on to the next-most important race."

The problem isn't that Santorum is behind on the polls, it's that he's way behind on the polls and has done nothing to reverse course. Rather, his constant stream of outrageous statements and his wingnutty book has provided the Casey camp with mounds of solid attack ad material (like women shouldn't go to college, shouldn't work, etc). And he's pushed a radical right-wing agenda more in tune with Oklahoma than Pennsylvania.

# posted by Jon Easton : 7:45 AM  0 comments