November 08, 2006

He Has One Thing: Rick Santorum's Family Is Cute-Ish

No, I'm not going to make fun of the little girl crying, hold your angry emails. What I would like to point out is:

• Although Rick Santorum homeschools his kids, he still dresses them like they're in Catholic school. Nice.
• Rick Santorum's daughter dresses her doll in the same outfit as her. No word on whether her doll attends Catholic school or not.
• Santorum has also apparently adopted Baby Fat Elijah Wood, who is trying to stare away the election results.
• Rick and his wife make a cute couple.

Man, don't you just want to sit behind Rick and his family at church? It'd be so aww-worthy. As a senator from Pennsylvania, not so much.

Posted by D-Mac at 12:49 PM | Comments (15) | TrackBack (0)

November 07, 2006

Rick Santorum's Concession Speech

Ha ha ha, better stop your son from crying, you big tool! Erhm, I mean, oh, yeah, shouldn't make fun of your kid. And to be honest, I'll be sorry to see you go, Ricky. You were so entertaining.

By the way: Love the shoutout to Jesus. Loved the dude in the crowd seconding it even more.

Archives: Rick Santorum

Posted by D-Mac at 11:59 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

Santorum Already Making Excuses For Impending Loss

Rick Santorum and the state's GOP are already whining about how they lost. Rick hasn't even officially lost yet!

The state GOP complaint alleges that lots of voters were not allowed to cast their ballots, and many people who voted Republican actually had their vote counted for a Democrat! Gasp!

Take this to heart if you want Casey to win: Rick Santorum's team is already spinning.

Oh, and MSNBC just called the race for "Bobby Casey," as noted loudmouth Chris Matthews just said. (Ooh! And he tossed it to Andrea Mitchell! It's like KYW on MSNBC!)

PAGOP: VOTING MACHINES FAILING ACROSS THE STATE [PA GOP]
PA GOP ASKS STATE SECRETARY OF COMMONWEALTH TO LAUNCH IMMEDIATE INVESTIGATION INTO VOTING MACHINE PROBLEMS [PA GOP]

Posted by D-Mac at 08:29 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

EXCLUSIVE: Election Results!

Well, it's after 8 p.m., so the polls are now closed. And, duh, I just realized: I'm a journalist! Kind of!

Which means I'm totally allowed to do this:

Philadelphia Will Do declares:

• Bob Casey wins the Senate with whatever percentage of the electorate reporting
• Ed Rendell is re-elected by like 4500 cheesesteaks

And the chain of Philadelphia bloggers making "EXCLUSIVE" jokes continues. Hurrah, hurrah.

Recommended: The Inquirer has one of the cooler automatically-updated charts allowing you to follow the results as they come in. (Neat!) They really did a nice job with this one.

Posted by D-Mac at 08:10 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Early Numbers: Casey In A Rout

From the New York Observer:

Casey 61 - Santorum 38

And the horse race has turned into a rout.

Senate numbers [NY Observer]

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Also Disenfranchised: Rick Santorum

NBC 10's Kristen Welker reported just a little bit ago that Rick Santorum, so engrossed with his get-out-the-vote movement, has not yet voted himself.

He "plans" on voting later in the day, NBC 10 says, but let's all spend the rest of the afternoon hoping that he gets stuck in traffic and somehow doesn't even get to vote for himself.

And then loses, by 1 vote.

Posted by D-Mac at 05:13 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

Election Blog Roundup: Split Decision

• Local 98 union reps are handing out literature encouraging voters to choose both Rendell and Santorum, exploding the heads of at least three members of Young Philly Politics. [YPP]

• Speaking of that crew, apparently the hot thing to do today is: Vote! Against Santorum! Yeeha! [Philebrity]

• The Inquirer reports on the big important project to take photos of your polling station that will end hunger, war and, most importantly -- this is from the official website: "[become] a research tool on how voting happens in America and how it can be designed to be easier, less confusing and more enjoyable." Hey, here's an idea to make it more enjoyable: Better candidates. [Blinq]

• When you choose a bar this election day, don't choose Lucy's Hat Shop, apparently. I'm Nodding Head, and I approve this message. [Phillyville]

• Richard Cranium takes time out from finding missing minorities to report that he doesn't think the Democratic gains will be as great as some hope. [All Spin Zone]

• Will Bunch votes, dammit. [Attytood]

Posted by D-Mac at 02:16 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Santorum Closer Than Once Thought?

Writing on National Review's blog, Kathryn Jean-Lopez says our pal Ricky isn't so far behind:

I'm told by a good, albeit Republican, source that Gov. Rendell's latest internals have Santorum only 5 behind. I'm told he had Santorum at 9 on Friday and 17 three weeks ago. Contrary to conventional wisdom, this race is in play.

Take this with a grain of salt, etc., as this is sort of counter to every public poll and could just be a conservative trying to rally the base. On the other hand, if you're planning on voting for Casey, you better get out there lest we have six more years of the unintentionally amusing senator.

Encouraging News [The Corner]

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November 06, 2006

Fun With Funny Pictures

Santorum: We just finished up a debate and you haven't said a word!

Casey: ...
Santorum: Come on! You didn't say anything! And you're still beating me by double-digits in the polls!
Casey: ...
Santorum: What, are you just waiting for me to say something stupid and then you'll stand there with a stupid grin on your face! I even have better hair than you. Since when does the candidate with better hair lose?!
Casey: ...
Santorum: Oh, by the way, I hate poor single mothers, gays and illegal immigrants. And I live in Virginia.
Casey grins.
Santorum: Dammit, I did it again!
Casey: You're out, Rick.

Posted by D-Mac at 12:28 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

November 03, 2006

Santorum Makes The Girls Flutter

Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan wants to have sex with Rick Santorum. She wants to have like 10,000 of his babies.

No, really. That's the only conclusion I can come to from her mashnote to Pennsylvania's junior senator today. Oh, you don't believe me? Here are some choice lines:

• "The other day I called a former senator, a crusty old moderate Republican, and asked him if he liked Mr. Santorum. 'No,' he said, 'I love him.'"
• "Most of his own impulses--protect the unprotected, help the helpless, respect the common man--have not been conservative in the way conservative is roughly understood, or portrayed, in the national imagination. " (Editor's Note: This is my favorite type of argument. "If you people were smarter you'd realize that Rick Santorum is awesome!")
• "He told me something is happening. And I hope he's right. Because the U.S. Senate is both an institution and a collection of human beings, and it needs his kind."
• "Personally I'll shed no tear for the careerists of either party who win or lose, nor for the BlackBerryed gargoyles in the second row of the SUV who tell them how to think and where to stand. That means this election night will be, for me, a dry-eyed affair. But if Rick Santorum goes down to the defeat all expect, I will feel it. Like the crusty old moderate Republican, I know a national loss when I see one."

Aww. Isn't that cute. Although if Santorum were to lose, I think before I shed a tear I'll say, "Awesome! We'll have a senator who lives in Pennsylvania now!"

We Need His Kind [WSJ]

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November 02, 2006

Relax, Only A Few More Days Of This

Next, he's going to attack Casey for something he did in one of Santorum's dreams.

Santorum Takes Casey to Task Over Kerry's Comments [KYW 1060]

Posted by D-Mac at 09:32 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

October 26, 2006

When You Lose The Graffiti Artists, You Lose The Election

Snapped by a reader on Richmond Street near Allegheny. Love the "Bob Brady" in the corner, too. (You can click to enlarge.)

Between this and Santorum's campaign pulling broadcast television ads, it seems like Casey is going to actually win this stupid election after all.

Santorum In Trouble? Campaign Pulls Broadcast TV Ads [AP/NBC 10]

Posted by D-Mac at 12:27 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

October 24, 2006

Adwatch: Bob Casey Is Pro-Little League

With a scant two weeks until the midterm elections, the airwaves are clogged with political advertisements. And, as a viewer with limited commercial-watching time, you may be wondering, "But what ads do I watch?" Most of them are hideous, but every once in a while there's one that's so over-the-top hilarious I can't pull myself away.

That's where this little new featured comes in. Every weekday now until election day, November 7, Philadelphia Will Do will be doing Adwatch, a feature where the best and brightest of television and radio campaign ads show up. Although not an official part of Adwatch (these distinctions must be made, natch), go take a listen to yesterday's Newspaper Guild anti-Tierney advertisement and then follow past the jump for the first edition of Adwatch.

Continue reading "Adwatch: Bob Casey Is Pro-Little League"

Posted by D-Mac at 01:30 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

Santorum Losing The YouTube Race, Too

That's Stephen Colbert, of course, making fun of Rick Santorum's comparison of the War in Iraq to Lord of the Rings. The best part of it, though, is that this version was uploaded by Bob Casey's campaign.

But of course.

Colbert Comments On Santorum and Lord of the Rings [YouTube via Bob Casey for U.S. Senate]

Posted by D-Mac at 09:50 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

October 16, 2006

Casey, Santorum Continue To Bore Their Way To Nov.

There was an extremely boring debate this morning between professional mime Bob Casey and noted perennial foot-in-his-mouth Senator Rick Santorum. ("Kim Jong Il just wants to watch NBA basketball!") The KYW 1060 "Breakfast With the Candidates" wasn't as snippy as the last Casey-Santorum debate, and was actually really quite bland.

However, Santorum continues to confuse everyone to no end. On charges that he had alienated some in the commonwealth, the senator replied (emphasis mine, obviously):

"I have a responsibility to be accountable, and you know when you go out to talk about the big issues of the day sometimes your going to make people mad when you hide from them, when you don't tell their positions on the issues. My opponent said I was a 'desperate candidate' -- I am desperate... I am not desperate, I'm exasperated what my opponent's positions are."

So... which one is he? Is he desperate or not desperate? Looks like Santorum's flip flopping again.

Breakfast With the Candidates on KYW Newsradio [KYW 1060]
July 12: Look For The Harlem Globetrotters To Make An Appearance In P'yŏngyang Any Day Now

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October 12, 2006

Leftovers: Bill Clinton Slums It

• Bill Clinton hit Bristol's Mill Street yesterday, stumping for democrat Patrick Murphy. He also called Murphy's opponent, Mike Fitzpatrick, a "mangy dog" in a really, really weird metaphor that I can't figure out. [Bucks County Courier Times]

• The American Highway Users alliance did a report on the safest cities to evacuate from, and -- surprise! -- Philadelphia got an F, much like almost every other city. (Only Kansas City got an A.) Gee, what shocker. It's hard to evacuate from cities with a million plus people in them. Who knew. [KYW 1060]

• Stop the presses! Dan Savage said something wild! Those alt-weekly editors/sex columnists! Who knew they'd say outrageous things? (Okay, okay, saying Carl Romanelli should be drug behind a car is a little out there.) [DP's The Spin]

• The infamous "Smiling Bank Robber" has been caught after robbing an Upper Darby bank. He said he moved to the suburbs because he had run out of banks to rob in Philadelphia. Guhwha? [KYW 1060]

• Berks County judges and their staffs may soon have to face random drug tests. Ha! [AP/NBC 10]

Posted by D-Mac at 03:40 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

Cabbies For... Rick Santorum?

You may be wondering why the cab driver above has a bullhorn. Perhaps he's taking a really aggressive stance on getting the best fares. ("Going to the airport? Come ride with me!") Perhaps he just got a good deal on car insurance and wants to tell everyone. ("I just saved a boatload of money," etc., etc.)

But, no, you'd be wrong. You see, that cab driver is shouting out of his bullhorn while looping around Broad Street telling everyone to vote for Rick Santorum. He declined to be interviewed, but here's what he said, in his thick accent:

"Vote for Senator Rick Santorum, if you really love America!"

I guess the only question is whether ol' Ricky checked his papers to make sure he was legal. That's what he's all about, right?

Posted by D-Mac at 11:50 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

September 25, 2006

Leftovers: Crying Green (And Red) Tears

• Green Party gubernatorial candidate Carl Romanelli -- whose attempt to get on the ballot was bankrolled by Republicans -- has been thrown off the ballot by a state judge for failing to have the correct number of signatures. He's not going away, though. Romanelli is planning to fight for his right for a third-place finish until 2010, at least. [AP/Philly.com]

• Media fight: It's Jay Glazer versus Les Bowen! Glazer says, "Jevon Kearse's career is over! The sky is falling!" and Bowen retorts with, "That exclusive Fox story yesterday about the severity of Jevon Kearse's left-knee injury contained some details that hadn't been disclosed previously, but the overall conclusion that the injury was worse than reported was not entirely true." Snappy comeback! [Fox Sports, Inky via NBC 10 Eagles Blog]

• Next Pennsylvania stop for the smoking ban lobby? None other than Pittsburgh, which is considering it. Sigh. Pretty soon all of Pennsylvania won't be able to breathe noxious fumes in the steel plant or coal mine (yes, yes) all day and then breathe noxious fumes in the bar all night. [Inky Fishbowl]

• Pennsylvania's gambling board is going to take time out from being arrested to approve the casinos planned for Pennsylvania's racetracks later this week. The towns with tracks are pumped. Says Bensalem's William McCauley: "We know who's going to be on the property. We're not going to end up with... another mall or a shopping center-slash-housing development." Because, really, a housing development is so much more destructive than a casino! [AP/Courier Post]

• The turnpike service plazas are getting more bathrooms! Hooray! [AP/Philly.com]

Posted by D-Mac at 04:00 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

September 19, 2006

Santorum Performs Finishing Move On 'Patriot-News'

Over the weekend, Rick Santorum took a shot at the group that's costing him the most number of votes in the state: The Harrisburg Patriot-News:

The Patriot-News of Harrisburg, Pa., report that Santorum, who trails Democrat Robert Casey in most polls, referred to his "rocky relations with the press" as he moved from room to room to attend regional caucuses earlier at a GOP state committee meeting in a hotel in East Pennsboro.

Later he refused to talk when a Patriot-News reporter, Brett Lieberman, approached with a question about Iran -- and again complained about what he called biased coverage.

"I have to raise tens of millions of dollars because of the junk you feed the people of Pennsylvania," he said, according to the paper. It added that he "then used an expletive to describe the coverage and slammed down a newspaper."

I'd personally like to thank The Patriot-News for their coverage of Sen. Santorum, fair or otherwise. If Rick Santorum keeps raising money, we can only see more unintentionally hilarious ads.

Santorum, in Tough Re-Election Fight, Slams (Literally) Newspaper [Editor & Publisher]
Sept. 15: Santorum Ads Keep Getting Better And Better
Photo by Michael Righi, licensed via Creative Commons

Posted by D-Mac at 11:55 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

September 18, 2006

Leftovers: Tough Break

• Jevon Kearse, injured near the end of the Eagles' loss to the Giants yesterday, is out for the year with a knee injury. Gee, yesterday's game just keeps getting better and better. Tomorrow, the team's going to announce that anthrax was accidentally released at the game and everyone needs to get tested. [Inquirer]

• Wireless Philadelphia has a pricetag! $21.95 a month. (The "Digital Inclusion" -- read: poor -- rate is $9.95.) The service hasn't even started yet, and the rates have already gone up from the $20/month promoted when the city signed the deal. Capitalism sure is a hideous bitch goddess. [Civil Defense]

• In New Jersey, the state will no longer pick up deer carcasses, which means driving in Jersey just got about a million times more awesome. [AP/Camden Courier Post]

• Just after Chris Ferguson, the astronaut reared in Northeast Philly, leaves the space station, there's a toxic spill. Coincidence? Yeah, most certainly. [Reuters/CNN.com]

• Hey, Bob Casey can talk!

Posted by D-Mac at 04:15 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

September 15, 2006

Santorum Ads Keep Getting Better And Better

Here is just one of the examples where losing Rick Santorum as our state's junior senator would be quite a downer. Okay, it's probably the only one. Sure, Santorum is a friend-of-President Bush, a super-religious Catholic who's fond of telling you how to live your life and overall just a pretty big annoyance for everyone who doesn't share his views.

But, c'mon, look at these ads! A bunch of actors playing "Casey donors" and explanations of how they're under investigation or have been indicted or convicted of various bad deeds. Could anyone imagine Casey coming up with an ad this ridiculous? Or, really, even any ad at all?

Of course, the hilarity doesn't end there: TPM Cafe reports that, well, none of these guys donated to Casey's Senate campaign.

PA-SEN: Santorum Ad Shows Casey Donors Behind Bars [TPM Cafe]

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September 08, 2006

Rick Santorum: For More Candidates, Except When He's Not

Out in Harrisburg, representatives of the Republicans, Democrats and Greens are still bickering over whether third-party Green candidate Carl Romanelli should stay on the ballot. Romanelli, who would theoretically take away votes from Bob Casey, has taken lots of money from Republicans, who helped him get on the ballot.

Rick Santorum, of course, would like Romanelli on the ballot. It'd give him a chance to win. But, oh no, that's not what Santorum spokeswoman Virginia Davis told USA Today on Tuesday:

Santorum spokeswoman Virginia Davis admits that the campaign advised contributors to help Romanelli qualify for the ballot. "We encouraged those who inquired to help with the Green Party effort," she says. "We welcome Carl Romanelli's entry into the race because at least he's expressed a real interest in being up front and honest about where he is on the issues."

Okay! Open access! More candidates! Hooray democracy! Unless... unless, of course, you're a Republican running against Rick Santorum in the primary. Way back in March, from a Daily News article:

Scott Migli, executive director of the Republican State Committee, said more than 1,000 of [Republican Senate candidate John] Featherman's 2,021 signatures, filed last week, were questionable.

Featherman violated a number of rules, Migli said. Some of the signers appeared to be registered Democrats and not all of the people distributing petitions were registered Republicans.

And the fact that he submitted slightly more than the required 2,000 names "threw up a red flag," Migli said. Usually people try to get thousands more, to protect against any problematic signatures.

So, the state Republicans are for open elections with as many candidates as possible. But only when it helps them, of course.

Politics as usual.

Third candidates could tilt number of races [USA Today]
March 16: A million tears: Non-wacky Republican drops out

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September 05, 2006

I'll Take 'Overstatement' For $200, Alex

From a column by PACleanSweep leader Russ Diamond in today's Evening Bulletin:

When is an election not an election? What is a "qualified elector?"

These two simple questions may play a pivotal role in what some observers are calling the most important political race on the planet. The answers could very well be the difference in Pennsylvania's U.S. Senate race and the future of not just America, but the entire world.

Yeah, the people in Darfur are on the edges of their seats waiting to see how the Pennsylvania Supreme Court is going to weigh in on the challenge to Carl Romanelli's petition.

Pa. Supreme Court To Decide Fate Of The World [The Evening Bulletin]

Posted by D-Mac at 02:00 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

Rick Santorum: Bomb The Ottoman Empire!

I was going to recap Sunday's Bob Casey-Rick Santorum debate, but after about two minutes of it, I was worried I was going to gouge my eyes out if I kept it on. (I tried to listen to it, also, but I put cotton in my ears about three minutes in.)

Anyway, Rick Santorum apparently talked about The War on Islamic Fascism, which is the new name Santorum is pushing for the Global War on Terror. (Um, okay.) It apparently is easier to actually have an enemy in a war, so it's a decent rhetorical tactic. (I hope Ricky will be pushing to rename the War on Drugs soon as well.)

In a recent Bucks County Courier Times article, Pennsylvania's junior senator said just what the war on Islamic Fascism is:

For one, he says, “terror” is merely a tactic, much like the blitzkrieg in World War II. But more importantly, “War with Islamic Fascism” gives a broader, Churchillian scope to the “enemy of this generation.”

He attributes its reach from al- Qaida on Sept. 11, 2001, to the 1979 American embassy takeover in Tehran, from Hezbollah to the nuclear-bent Iranian president.

Santorum even brings in the Ottoman Empire by mentioning the 1693 Battle of Vienna, in which Turkish efforts to conquer Europe were finally halted by the West.

Oh, those bastards in the Ottoman Empire! They really hate we Americans for our freedom, and our ... oh, wait, what?

(The Ottomans, by the way, were remarkably tolerant of non-Muslims, even taking in Jews during the Spanish Inquisition.)

But of course.

Santorum's new name for old war [Bucks County Courier Times]

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August 24, 2006

The Many Facial Expressions Of Rick Santorum

A Daily News poll today notes that Bob Casey's lead over Rick Santorum has slipped to only five points. Bob Casey has pretty much remained a mime in the last few weeks, and Rick Santorum has been running a non-stop ad blitz on the TV stations.

(Editor's Note: Okay, so about a month ago I woke up to KYW 1060 and I thought I heard a Santorum ad that said something to the effect of, "People think Bob Casey and Rick Santorum are the same, but they're not. Rick Santorum supports an exception to abortion for the life of the mother, while Casey doesn't." Could this have actually happened? I can't find the ad anywhere, and I doubt Santorum would position himself as the pro-choice candidate, but I swear I heard this. Anyway, digression over.)

While our city's noted liberal bloggers are breathing into paper bags today, I think it's time to take a look at some of Rick's Santorum's ads -- which are no doubt bolstering the junior senator's campaign.

Continue reading "The Many Facial Expressions Of Rick Santorum"

Posted by D-Mac at 10:45 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)