Published: April 08, 2006 11:57 pm      

Statewide campaigns start early, may get nasty

On gubernatorial candidate Lynn Swann’s Web site last week, a fair amount of space was occupied by a grainy, black-and-white photo of Gov. Ed Rendell.

A blaring headline accompanied the picture: “Ed Rendell breaks yet another promise!”

Welcome to the bare-knuckled political world of Pennsylvania’s two most high-profile races in 2006: Campaigns for the governor’s office and one of the state’s two U.S. Senate seats.

Though the general election is seven months away, candidates already are launching attacks. And experts consider southwestern Pennsylvania – including Cambria County – a key battleground, so local residents should expect to get an earful long before summer even begins.

“The conventional wisdom is, you get started early and you keep it up,” said Robert A. Gleason Jr., Cambria County Republican Committee chairman.

“I expect it to pick up,” Gleason added. “I expect there to be a lot more attack ads.”



Senate showdown

In a race that is of national importance, U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pittsburgh, already is taking heat from Democratic challenger and state Treasurer Robert Casey Jr.

That is despite the fact that Casey has not yet made it through a primary election in which he has two opponents: Attorney Alan Sandals and professor Chuck Pennacchio, both based in Philadelphia.

Not to be outdone, Santorum’s camp issues regular press releases blasting Casey and has created an animated Web site, www.wherescasey.com, criticizing the amount of time the treasurer has spent in his office.

The governor’s race, pitting Republican and former Steelers wide receiver Swann against Democrat and veteran politician Ed Rendell, also is shaping up as a bitter feud.

Of course, all involved say they simply are responding to fights picked by the opposing candidate.

“This is a guy who’s going to spend the next couple of months just trying to tear the governor down,” Rendell campaign spokesman Dan Fee said of Swann. “While we don’t start fights, we tend to finish them.”

Swann spokeswoman Melissa Walters countered that, if there is a negative vibe in the spring campaign, it is coming from voters who are fed up with Rendell and want change.

“Lynn is spending his time talking to Pennsylvanians about his policies,” Walters said.

Casey’s camp claims attacks are driven by “special interests” and lobbyists backing Santorum in Washington. But an official with the senator’s re-election effort said Casey is known for running negative campaigns.

(Casey’s) best defense is to attack Rick Santorum instead of saying where he’s at on the issues,” spokeswoman Virginia Davis said. “Of course, Senator Santorum, over time, will respond to these attacks.”

Everyone expects a campaign for U.S. president to become intense and vicious well in advance of election day. But that trend, it is clear, is seeping into state races.

“There is no doubt that these campaigns are getting earlier and earlier,” said G. Terry Madonna, a political science professor at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster. “What they’re really doing is positioning themselves on the big issues they’re going to debate.”

Furthermore, Madonna sees the state’s southeast and southwest regions as important stages on which these races will play out.



Cambria’s connection

Cambria County, which is dominated by Democrats who tend to vote conservatively on some social issues, is on Madonna’s watch list.

President Bush won Cambria County in the 2004 general election. And during the 2002 gubernatorial campaign, Rendell was clobbered by county voters in both the spring and the fall.

“These are old Democratic counties that have been trending Republican,” Madonna said of southwestern counties including Cambria. “It’s like a chess game – who can win how many votes where.”

Local political leaders are gearing up and taking nothing for granted.

While planning to rally around Santorum’s cause, Gleason admits that he is concerned about the local popularity of the Casey name. Some attribute that to the late Robert P. Casey Sr., the senate candidate’s father and a former Pennsylvania governor.

“His dad set the groundwork there,” said Bill Joseph, Cambria County Democratic Committee chairman. “His dad was in and out of Cambria County like it was his own county.”

In the governor’s race, prominent Johnstown Democrat Ed Cernic Sr. is aware of Rendell’s 2002 loss here. But he is planning a $500-per-person fund-raiser for Rendell later this month.

Personal sit-downs with the governor also are available, but at a steep price: $5,000.

Swann already has visited Johnstown twice, including a speech at a GOP fund-raiser last week. And he is expected at a Republican function in Somerset later this month.



Somerset’s role

While Somerset County remains solidly Republican and does not seem to have a shifting political dynamic, interest in this year’s campaigns is running high there as well.

“I think we’ll have a big turnout (in November), as high as the presidential race two years ago,” said state Rep. Bob Bastian, Somerset County Republican Committee chairman.

It helps that the gubernatorial and senate races offer an interesting mix of candidates. That gives local political leaders in both counties hope that their picks have a legitimate chance.

For instance, Swann’s celebrity status scores points with voters who might not normally give a Republican candidate a second glance.

And Casey’s anti-abortion views could help him land votes in conservative regions that, under other circumstances, automatically would align with Santorum.

“That’s what makes this race different than other races Santorum has had,” said John Vatavuk, Somerset County Democratic Committee chairman.

In Cambria County, Gleason takes the opposite view.

“What we’re picking up is, the pro-life people are standing with Rick Santorum,” he said.

Voters can expect those kinds of arguments in politics. The question is, can they stomach seven more months of high-profile, often-negative campaigning?

“I think people, over time, get disgusted,” Vatavuk said. “They get burnt out.”

Or they simply tune out.

“The political people will be interested all year,” Bastian said. “The average ‘Joe lunch box’ is going to be interested five days before the election. That’s just the way it is.”



Mike Faher can be reached at 532-5056 or mfaher@tribdem.com.