Is this the best we can do?

I just finished watching Meet the Press's senatorial debate between Rick Santorum (R-19th Century) and Democrat Bob Casey and I can't help but wonder, is Bob Casey the best the Democrats can come up with?

Talk about being out of his league. While nearly everything that came out of Santorum's mouth was borderline nuts, at least he sounded like he believed it. I got the impression that Bob Casey doesn't believe anything except that he's not Rick Santorum and since Santorum is a looney-toon, that will be enough.

If I lived in Pennsylvania, that would be enough for me. But I suspect there are a lot of people who would rather have someone who stands for something, even if it's offensive, than someone who looks like they stand for their own election. Perhaps it's just a matter of Casey being nervous on a national stage, but he looked like he was on tranquilizers and was only familiar with his talking points and slogans.

It's a good thing the debate was only an hour long, If it had gone on another hour, Santorum might have convinced Casey to vote for him. Polls this week put Casey 18 points ahead in the race. Perhaps he's so far ahead that he cannot lose. But if this is the Democrat who has the best chance of winning in November, I'm a whole lot less confident than I was an hour ago.

Tags: Pennsylvania Senate Election 2006 Republican Democrat Rick Santorum Bob Casey