Michelman

WASHINGTON — Pennsylvania Treasurer Bob Casey's name is recognized in many circles because his late father stood up to the Democratic Party in opposition to abortion. Now, that name is again causing trouble within the party as the younger Casey campaigns for U.S. Senate.

Abortion-rights advocate Kate Michelman drew attention to the simmering unhappiness with Casey among some in the abortion-rights wing of the party by mulling a run as an independent, though she ultimately decided against it.

Michelman, a Pennsylvanian who is the former president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, had the potential to be Casey's strongest opponent among Democratic voters — and a wedge Democratic leaders wanted to avoid in their attempt to unseat Sen. Rick Santorum, the No. 3 Senate Republican.

Michelman said there is angst in her camp over Casey's endorsement of Judge Samuel Alito's appointment to the Supreme Court, and party leaders promised that Casey, if elected, would not vote to confirm justices opposed to abortion. She said angst was worsened after South Dakota outlawed abortion in most cases.

"He's a perfectly fine person, but not someone we can trust to defend our rights, not at all," Michelman said prior to announcing she would not run. "If that upsets the political establishment, so be it."

Citing obligations to her family, Michelman said Sunday in a op-ed piece in The Philadelphia Inquirer that family obligations were keeping her out of the race, and she determined Pennsylvania would be better served with Casey in office rather than Santorum.

"I do this knowing that I may forever regret not responding one more time to the clarion call of principle," Michelman said.

A spokesman for Casey said Sunday that he had no comment on Michelman's decision.

Pennsylvania has more registered Democrats than Republicans, and some of them winced when she said she might enter. For months, Casey has been leading Santorum in polls by double-digits.

Democrats are eager to oust Santorum, a conservative outspoken in his opposition to abortion and gay marriage.

Last year, Casey was recruited to challenge Santorum by Sen. Chuck Schumer, the New York Democrat who chairs his party's campaign committee, and Pennsylvania

Gov. Ed Rendell. Party leaders believe Casey is the best candidate to beat Santorum and could help negate the advantage Santorum has traditionally held with anti-abortion voters.

Rendell also asked Barbara Hafer, a former state treasurer who supports abortion rights, to get out of the race, which angered some abortion-rights advocates. The National Organization for Women's political action committee responded by circulating an online petition against Casey.Even now, "there's absolutely a lot of anger" about Casey's apparent anointment as the chosen candidate, said Becca Glenn, president of NOW in Harrisburg. Glenn, however, acknowledged most in her circle would vote for Casey if the race comes down to him and Santorum.Even before the Senate race, abortion-rights groups opposed Casey.In Casey's unsuccessful 2002 bid to win the Democratic gubernatorial primary against Rendell, Michelman's group spent $170,000 on cable television advertising that said Rendell supported abortion rights, and Casey did not.Casey opposes abortion, but supports exceptions if the mother's life is in danger or in the case of rape or incest. He has worked to portray himself as less of an ideologue than Santorum, and even Michelman contends the younger Casey is less zealous an abortion foe than his late father.The elder Casey pushed through some of the most stringent state laws restricting abortion in the country, and made headlines when he was prevented from speaking on abortion at the party's national conventions in 1992 and 1996.In a recent Quinnipiac University poll of Pennsylvania voters, 17 percent of responders said abortion should be legal in all cases and 36 percent said it should be legal in most cases. Twenty-five percent said it should be illegal in most cases, and 16 percent said it should be illegal in all cases.Colin Hanna, president of Let Freedom Ring Inc., a West Chester, Pa.-based conservative advocacy group, predicts the longer the campaign goes on, the more questions Casey will have to answer among Democrats about abortion."They'll recognize he's trying to have it both ways," Hanna said.Casey is expected to handily defeat Democratic opponents Chuck Pennacchio and Alan Sandals in the May Democratic primary.Even if Michelman had run, Joanne Messenlehner, 67, a Democratic state committee member from Northhampton County, said Casey would still likely win the race because there's so much enthusiasm behind him.She recalled attending a Democratic committee women's caucus meeting in which a woman who suggested they support an abortion-rights candidate as a form of protest was booed."We know we can beat Rick Santorum with Bob Casey," Messenlehner said.

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