I’ve been at the polling place in Nether Providence Township since 6:15 AM. It’s impossible to know how things are really going, but here’s how it feels on the ground in our little sliver of the Philly burbs:

In the morning, the Republican base was out. They’re always there. This is a majority Republican district by registration, and it’s a community that votes. Hopes of a disgraced and discouraged Republican base staying away from the polls are, to my senses, wishful thinking. This is a fairly affluent, mostly white suburb, still tied to a county GOP machine. Your mileage may vary.

There are plenty of Republicans who will gladly tell you for whom they’re splitting their tickets.

The Democrats who are showing up to the polls are often angry. They don’t like the sleezey way that their candidates were attacked. One lady railed on the local GOP commissioner for more than five minutes about the disgusting ads that our local state rep, Tom Gannon, lobbed at his Democratic opponent, Bryan Lentz (PA-House 161). Others were suspicious and mad about the awkwardness of our polling site. This is probably a reaction to the national mood. Our local judge of elections, though a member of the other party, plays it straight and clean. I don’t think you’d come across a more civil and fair election board anywhere. Both parties work together at our site to make it work right.

Dems are motivated, and Republicans are still coming out, although we don’t know how they’re splitting their tickets.

The one thing I’m sure of: the independents are with us. That’s the group that’s approaching the outside workers and saying, “I’m an independent, but I’m voting straight Democrat this time.” I’d be willing to bet that the registered “NP’s” are voting so overwhlemingly in our favor that if I were a Democratic operative, I’d play the numbers game and turnout independents, period.

If I were a Republican in this neighborhood, I’d be allergic to every NP voter unless I had a voter ID from a previous canvass already in pocket.

By 2:00, our precinct, which has over 900 voters, had already seen 370 walk through the doors. We have an additional 31 absentee ballots returned.

My son came in and helped his mom and dad vote. He made sure we did it just right.

Now we’re at home. Our polls are staffed well and its the slow hour. In an hour, I’m taking some Tylenol and heading back out.

PSotD noted Peggy Noonan’s weepy editorial in the WSJ: “We Need His Kind: In praise of Rick Santorum.”

Oh, Poor Rick. Poor, poor Rick. He is being punished for candor, don’t you know. As proof of his decency, he shared with a journalist how much he feels for Bob Casey:

We pray for the Caseys every night. We know it’s as hard for them as it is for us.

Indeed, it is a big-hearted man who can pray for an opponent who suffers the insults that you sling at him daily. Maybe Rick ought to tend to his own soul and pray for forgiveness.

Karen Santorum is distressed that we don’t see the kind, tender side of her husband. Peggy Noonan sheds tears for a misunderstood crusader for social justice.

But the Pennsylvanians who know Santorum’s public self know a different Rick Santorum. His disastrously wrong-minded policies aside, we see a career grandstander. Our Rick is a guy who uses every chance to attack his opponents; to scoldingly disapprove of how other decent people live their lives; to mock others with a smug pursing of the lips. He sure loved to let us all know how pious he was, but we rarely witnessed his humility.

If Rick Santorum is the sweetheart in his private life that others say he is, the greatest thing to mourn about his political career is that he could never behave in public with the same humane goodness that he supposedly shows to those who share his home, his side of the aisle, or his pew.

Peggy Noonan can weep for the man on the soapbox, but we Pennsylvanians will welcome the peace and quiet.

I try to be a good human being, but I’m just not above a good gloat. I’ll work on it.

Fans of this here blog may know that I’ve been rooting for the Commonwealth’s junior senator. He has no business representing a practical, balanced state like PA. But since Santorum has positioned himself as the voice of Wingnuttery, he deserves to go out with a bang. Or a thud. Some sort of audible signal that his political career has finished its freefall.

Last month, I noted that Rick Santorum was 99th out of 100% in Survey USA’s ‘net-approval’ ratings polls (aka second in net disapproval). With the October results came the good news that Rick has overtaken Conrad “Secret Plan” Burns in the final monthly tally before the election.

Not only is Rick Santorum now the most unpopular senator in his home state, he has pulled it off definitively: He has the lowest favorables, and the highest unfavorables. I assume that he has now alienated every voter that he had left to turn off. But who knows? There may be one last surprise in ol’ Rick’s bag of self-destruction.

Kidding aside, the developing blowouts in the two top races on the ticket could be a net negative for the Democrats if it causes some soft Dems and Democrat-inclined independents to stay home. It’s critically important that we keep the GoTV engine going to pull in drop-off voters, because we have four house seats in the balance, and a raft of state legislative seats that we need to ferry to Harrisburg.

A lot of those voters are getting sick of mailings and robocalls. If you want to make a difference in the election now, the best way is to bring it up with one of your less political neighbors or friends. You don’t have to probe them. Just lead off with, “Boy will I be glad when this election is over. I hope they throw some of those bums out.” Let it go from there. You might have a chance to raise somebody’s consciousness about a candidate. Personal recommendation is a lot more powerful than a 30 second ad.

Prescription: keep swinging.

No, he’s not going to be elected.

But he still has a chance, before being voted out of the office, to become the least popular Senator with his constituents. He’s currently ranked 99th according to SurveyUSA’s ‘Net Job Approval’ poll ratings.

The race to the bottom is going to be difficult, and time is short. His biggest opponent now is Conrad Burns, MT, who has $137,000 and some Super Bowl tickets from some guy called Abramoff.

Senator Santorum, you’ve always claimed that you’re a good closer. I have faith that you can do this if you set your mind to it.

For those who may have missed it on Sunday, Santorum and Casey debated on Meet the Press. I provide this synopsis so that you won’t regret missing it.

More »

Even the conservatives are mad at Santorum, apparently.

For five and half years of each term, Rick Santorum drives us liberals crazy with his gay-bashing, chauvinistic, environment-raping, worker-jipping assaults. Then an election year rolls around, and back comes Senator Pothole. It was bad enough when he made a PA district pick up the distance learning tab to educate his kids where they live…in Virginia.

But now even the ultra-con Washington Times reports on conservative disaffection with Santorum. (Story spotted by new blogger on the block, Brett Lieberman, of Pennsyltucky Politics.)

The PA Senate race has tightened in recent polls. While Santorum still struggles with his strong negatives, Casey’s favorables are not yet solidified in the public mind. Admitting that he will always suffer somewhat in the eyes of the liberal wing of the party for his stance on social issues, it still seems to me that Casey presents as being a more likeable figure than I have previously considered him to be. I hope that he’s hitting his stride. After years of a somewhat wooden public persona, he seems to have actually learned to smile and relax a little bit.

Of all the issues he’s going to have on Rick Santorum this year, I think the residency issue should be the one that is the killer for Santorum. Forget getting bogged down in pea-shooting over issues. Just make sure that there isn’t a single Pennslvanian who hasn’t heard that Rick’s in VA, not PA.

My unsolicited three part messaging strategy for Bob Casey this Fall:

Part 1: You thought you knew him, but have you met Bob Casey lately? Now with 75% more smiling!

Part 2: Had it with the Bush? Rick Santorum invented the rubber stamp, even pushing his dopey scheme for Social Security and the donut hole in Medicaire. [Pennsylvania is old. Seniors vote.]

Part 3: Ricky don’t live here no more. Can you believe that? How can he be the senator from Pennsylvania when he doesn’t even live in Pennsylvania?

It’s just one of those things. Unless you’re a 700 Club wingnut, how do you get yourself pumped to go vote for the guy who doesn’t even want to live with you anymore? It’s just bad politics. What’s he going to hit back with? “Yeah, well Bob came in late a few days at work. And he has a monobrow. Nya-nya-nya?”