22,000 Swann voters didn't vote for Santorum

AP on Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ^ | May 18, 2006

[rightwingintelligentsia]

HARRISBURG, Pa. -- Nearly 22,000 Pennsylvania Republicans who voted for Lynn Swann as the GOP nominee for governor withheld their support from U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum in Tuesday's primary.

Both candidates were unopposed. Mr. Swann, the former Steelers star, received 574,276 votes, while Mr. Santorum, who is seeking a third term in the Senate, drew 552,559, according to unofficial totals compiled by the Pennsylvania Department of State that were 99 percent complete today.

In the Nov. 7 general election, Mr. Swann will face Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell while Santorum is running against state Treasurer Bob Casey.

Less than six months before the election, independent polls show both Republicans lagging by double-digit margins.

But political observers say the disparity in the primary vote is a bad sign for Mr. Santorum. Democratic strategists view Mr. Santorum, the Senate's third-ranking Republican, as vulnerable partly because of his ties to President Bush, whose approval rating is sagging.

[Coop]

Does PA have a closed primary?

[Knitting A Conundrum]

I can understand their feelings....

[Unam Sanctam]

I hope all the people who had a grudge against Santorum from the right will have gotten it out of their system in the primary. They need to turn out and reelect him to the Senate over Casey.

[Tribune7]

Yes.

[Coop]

Thanks. I figured as much, based on the tone of the article, but apparently the author didn't feel that tidbit was relevant.

[Brilliant]

I'm betting it's a lot more than that. You've gotta expect that a lot of black Dems voted in the GOP primary.

[Antoninus]

Whoop-tee-doo. Talk about AP trying to make something out of nothing.

Santorum ran unopposed in the primary. That should tell you all you need to know about the so-called Republican "anger" at him. If they really were angry, there would have been a token opponent at least.

Pat Toomey is running commercials in support of Rick. Bob Casey, Jr. is running away from the issues as fast as he can. Santorum is going to win in November.

[Hydroshock]

Yep.

[capt. norm]

Gee, maybe there were some Democrat football fans that crossed over. I know some who would do so in a New York Minute.

Looks like the press is trying to make it look like a big defection on Santorum.

[Morgan in Denver]

I am baffled about why Senator Santorum is disliked and having a problem with this reelection? From here, he seems like one of the better senators.

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

I don't understand the anger against Santorum. He's one of the most conservative Republicans in the Senate.

[Obadiah]

I pray you are accurate.

[frogjerk]

Whoop-tee-doo. Talk about AP trying to make something out of nothing

What is it, about 3%? This is HUGH! And I'm being very series here...

[Fruitbat]

I'd wager that a good many more voted only for Santorum and not Swann due to lack of familiarity (or other reasons) making the number that actually voted for Swann but not for Santorum even higher.

[Coop]

I don't understand the anger against Santorum.

Mainly it seems to be anger at him endorsing Spectre over Toomey. And I understand that anger (I shared it, although I'm not a PA voter), but IMHO it's not enough to throw a good conservative out of office. If Pat Toomey can forgive him, I hope the bulk of PA conservatives can as well.

[Diddle E. Squat]

22,000 is 3.8% of 574,000. Or slightly larger than the percentage of gays in the overall population (though their percentage of Republicans would be smaller.)

So this number makes sense. About half are probably Log Cabin Republicans who don't like Santorum's social stances, and half the perpetual "I'm cutting off my nose to spite my face, that will show those RINO's!"/Didn't-learn-a-thing-from-1992 types that make up about 2% of conservatisms and 50% of the posts here.

[Fruitbat]

Santorum ran unopposed in the primary. That should tell you all you need to know about the so-called Republican "anger" at him. If they really were angry, there would have been a token opponent at least.

I'm not sure that's viable. Why would anyone waste their time/money knowing that they were going down. I'll vote for anyone but democrats that say they're fixing the borders and not going to allow any semblance of "amnesty" other than GOPs that have already proven that they don't care.

[Coop]

that make up about 2% of conservatisms and 50% of the posts here.

:-D Good one!

[Fruitbat]

Mainly it seems to be anger at him endorsing Spectre over Toomey. And I understand that anger (I shared it, although I'm not a PA voter), but IMHO it's not enough to throw a good conservative out of office. If Pat Toomey can forgive him, I hope the bulk of PA conservatives can as well.

Yeah, would agree. But spectre should really change party affiliations. I.e., that was an enormous misstep by Santorum.