Democrats have said he is their top target in 2006 and aim to pit Robert P. Casey Jr. against him.
The Republican Party's top goal in the 2006 mid-term elections is to keep Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum
in office, national party chairman Ken Mehlman said yesterday.
"There is no higher priority for our party," Mehlman said in an interview. "He's a man of conviction."
Mehlman, who managed President Bush's reelection campaign last year, spoke before a joint appearance with
Santorum at St. Thomas Aquinas Church in South Philadelphia. The two answered questions at a town-hall meeting sponsored by
the Asian Social Services Association.
Democrats have already said that Santorum is their top target, and the party leadership has coalesced around
state Treasurer Robert P. Casey Jr., who announced earlier this month he would run.
Mehlman's comments are the latest indication that the expected clash between the two men, still 20 months
away, already is the highest-profile Senate race in the nation.
National Democratic leaders urged Casey, the son of a former governor, to run after he won election as treasurer
in November with the most votes of any candidate in state history. Casey, who opposes abortion and gun control, did well in
counties that have often rejected Democratic candidates, leading party strategists to believe he would be a good match against
Santorum, a prominent conservative.
Santorum, who led the fight to restrict late-term abortions, said he was confident he could hold on to his
political base among social conservatives.
"I think you'll find that very few people vote on any single issue," Santorum said.
"And the folks that do vote on single issues - I think I have a record; he doesn't. I not only have a record,
but I have a record that is pretty clear."
Casey faces a challenge in the Democratic primary from Chuck Pennacchio, a University of the Arts professor.
