Posted by: McQ on Wednesday, March 08, 2006 Two words: Kate Michelman. Seriously. A single issue independent candidate running for the senate focused almost exclusively on abortion rights because the Democrats are running an anti-abortion candidate against Santorum. Kate Michelman. Abortion rights leader Kate Michelman is thinking of jumping into the Senate race in Pennsylvania as an independent.With abortion a non-issue in this election, at least till now, it was pretty much choose up sides and vote. And Santorum was getting whacked if the polls are any indication. Insert abortion as an issue and, well, things change: Analyst and pollster Terry Madonna at Franklin & Marshall College in Pennsylvania said, “If she runs as an independent, they’ve given Santorum a significant boost.” He added, “This is a very interesting dilemma liberal Democrats have right now.”Heh ... well yeah, and that's a bit of an understatement, isn't it? Michelman would run as an indpendent because she couldn't meet the deadline to qualify for the Democratic primary in May. She'd also have to get 67,000 signatures before August to qualify for November. Obviously if she were running in the primary she'd probably get spanked pretty badly by Casey. Or at least you'd think she would (a single issue candidate ... not that appealing). However with the screech level from the left elevated to an alarming degree concerning abortion and Roe v. Wade, not to mention the confirmation of Alito and now the South Dakota abortion law, well, stranger things have happened. So if you take that premise to the election in November ... whole different ball game, isn't it? That is if Michelman actually carries through with her threat and shows up on the November ballot as an independent. Can you say shades of Nader? Split vote? Santorum wins? Now obviously all of this could be much ado about nothing if she is simply flapping her gums. But indications are it's at least a bit more serious than that: Michelman is conferring with Democratic pollster Harrison Hickman and other strategists and will make her decision in the next two weeks.I cannot imagine anyone more pleased with her possible candidacy than Rick Santorum. He may copy Alito's thank you letter and send it to her if this all comes to pass. And Bob Casey? Well he's been fine till now: As of early February, a survey of 611 Pennsylvanians by Franklin and Marshall College’s Center for Opinion Research showed Casey besting Santorum, 50 percent to 39 percent, with 11 percent of those polled saying they were undecided.If you don't think this is a serious threat, trot on over to Firedoglake and have a gander: We're now the number one blog fundraiser for Ciro Rodriguez, and that money is 100% pro-choice (not that the others are not, BTW). These totals speak in a language so simple even Elmendorf can understand it — if candidates want to harness our energy and our money, they better have their pro-choice credentials in order.Santorum has some real problems to overcome, obviously, and it remains to be seen if the gap of 11% stays that wide as November approaches, but if it narrows, and it probably will, and if Michelman enters the race, it is not at all improbable that she might end up saving Santorum's bacon. The irony would be delicious (and for the record, I am not a Santorum fan). |
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