Will Casey Strike Out? (The Weekly Standard)
THIS YEAR, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is host to perhaps the most expensive, combative, and rigorously contested U.S. Senate race. Seeking a third term, Republican senator Rick Santorum faces a strong challenge from state treasurer Bob Casey Jr., who sports a political brand name--his father was a popular two-term governor, as well as a state auditor general.

Casey, like his father, holds unconventional positions--for a Demo crat--on gun control (he's against it) and abortion (he says he's against it, too). At the moment, Casey's ahead: The most recent Quinnipiac survey has Casey ahead by 18 points, and a recent "Strategic Vision" poll gives Casey a 10-point lead.

The fact is, though, that Bob Casey Jr.'s potential weaknesses--and Santorum's political strengths--make this race far from over...

Rudy: Hero of our age? (Pittsburgh Tribune Review)
Ronald Reagan was the last candidate to make New York see red. Recent polls suggest Rudy Giuliani may be the next.

Gallup has three of four Republicans putting him at the top of their list.

He loves the Yankees, roasted peanuts (shells included) and the opera. During radiation treatments for prostate cancer, his staff played "stump the mayor" with operatic trivia.

His moderate Republican face displayed all of our anger, grief and horror on Sept. 11. A voracious reader, he turned that night to Roy Jenkins' Winston Churchill biography, poring over its recounting of how vital Churchill was to Britain's survival during World War II...