Tube City Almanac

October 13, 2006

P.M. Update: There's a Contrast, All Right

Category: Politics || By jt3y

I'm watching the debate right now between Rick Santorum (R-Penn Hills, Va.) and Bob Casey Jr.

I can't say that Bob Casey reminds me of Winston Churchill or Franklin D. Roosevelt. He's a politician. But he looks OK. He's certainly cool under pressure. He's self deprecating. He's relaxed. He's willing to take criticism. I think those are all useful qualities in a politician.

I wish Casey would punch back harder. He keeps asking Santorum to "tell the truth." You can be more plain than that, Casey --- say that he's lying. If Casey can't tell Rick Santorum he's lying, how is he going to speak truth to people in Washington?

But Santorum is just a blustering, swaggering bully --- he tells outright lies, he talks over people and he puts up straw arguments and then knocks them down.

And every time he's told "time's up," he keeps talking. He ignores the rules. The rules don't apply to him --- just like he took tax money from the residents of Penn Hills to send his kids to school in Virginia. He takes whatever he wants.

I also like how Santorum's eyes never meet his questioners, or the camera. What does it say about a political candidate who can't even look you in the eye? Hell, they teach you that on the first day at political candidate school.

I hadn't seen Santorum in action lately, except in his lovely TV ads, and consequently I had forgotten just what a bullying fraud he is.

To quote Rock Ridge's schoolmarm, Harriet Johnson, in Blazing Saddles, Rick Santorum is the leading a--hole in the state.

A conservative Republican friend of mine told me recently he'd like to wipe the smirk off of Rick Santorum's face.

I think that when Santorum passes away (hopefully, many, many years from now), a team of undertakers is going to have to work around the clock for three days to wipe that smirk from his face.

I don't know if Casey will be a great U.S. senator, but I'm willing to give him six years. After all, we've given Santorum 12 years.

Anyone who votes for Santorum --- and thinks he's a good representative of the people of Pennsylvania --- is a damned fool. I think he's an embarassment.

Santorum began his closing remarks by saying "there's a big contrast in this race." There sure is. Bob Casey seems like the kind of a guy I'd like to talk to. Rick Santorum seems like the kind of guy I'd avoid.

No, I'm not going to outline exactly which Santorum positions I disagree with (frankly, I disagree with most of them).

Am I calling names? I guess. This is strictly my personal, visceral reaction. Santorum turns my stomach. I don't like the man.

However, this is not about being a Democrat or a Republican: I voted for Rick Santorum years ago. I could never vote for him again.

He's a jerk. He's a bully. He represents everything I have hated my entire life.

I'm voting for Casey. And that's why.






Your Comments are Welcome!

Not being permanent residents of PA, we don’t get to see the state political ads on a regular basis. However, it would seem to me that all the Casey campaign would have to do is dig through the recent archive of some of the idiotic remarks little Ricky has made in public, on camera and splice them together. About 45 seconds worth ought to do it, followed simply by a voice-over saying simply, “What you see is what you get”.
ebtnut - October 13, 2006



Let’s be honest: I said last night that Casey was OK. He was not OK. Casey was terrible. He looked like he was on Qualuudes.

He looked like a stiff wind might blow him over, and as someone said to me this morning, “What was the deal with that stupid smile on his face?”

If Casey did OK, it was only by comparison to Santorum.

That debate was a race to the bottom. I don’t know that either candidate was well represented in that hour.

I would argue that Santorum set the tone at the beginning —- nasty —- and it went downhill fast from there. But Casey didn’t do anything that improved the level of discourse.

Damn, I’m depressed. You mean we have to vote for one of these guys?
Webmaster (URL) - October 13, 2006



A pox on both their houses. That wasn’t a debate, rather a shouting match on the level of the WWE. And running their campaign ads every 15 minutes on TV is driving me not to vote for either candidate. And while I’m at it, enough with the Swann and Rendell ads too. The mute button on the remote will be worn out by election day!!!
Bill - October 13, 2006



To comment on any story at Tube City Almanac, email tubecitytiger@gmail.com, send a tweet to www.twitter.com/tubecityonline, visit our Facebook page, or write to Tube City Almanac, P.O. Box 94, McKeesport, PA 15134.