Santorum vs. Casey Gets Personal

The U.S. Senate campaign between Rick Santorum and Bob Casey, Jr. took an ugly turn this weekend. Here's the Philadelphia Enquirer's article on the incident:

This week, with the primary election, the controversy flared anew. "I have a right to contest the Santorums' votes," said Ed Vecchio, whose wife is the Democratic leader of Penn Hills. "Their house has no furniture and no drapes. They don't live in Penn Hills."

Santorum's response? That the Vecchios and, by extension, the Democrats and Casey, were in essence trespassing and looking into the home. His wife called the Capitol Police and asked that police guard the home in Penn Hills. Yesterday, the couple fired off an angry letter to Casey:

"We are writing to express our outrage regarding the actions of your campaign, which have put our six young children at a serious safety risk," it said. "Last night, we learned with deep dismay that a Casey operative admitted on KDKA-TV to trespassing on our property and viewing the inside of our home.

The Casey campaign fired back:

The Casey campaign responded quickly with a statement from Bob and Terese Casey. "We are outraged that Sen. Santorum is making false and malicious charges and bringing our families and the Casey campaign into a long-running dispute he has with Penn Hills residents about his residency status."

This morning, Rick Santorum fired back, posting this letter on Redstate's site:

Karen and I Respond to Casey Campaign's Despicable Action

By: Rick Santorum

On Friday, my wife Karen and I sent the following letter to Bob Casey, Jr. in response to one of his campaign operatives peering into the windows of our family home in Penn Hills. We await his response.

May 19, 2006

Bob Casey, Jr.

c/o Bob Casey for Pennsylvania Committee

1601 Walnut St, Suite 402

Philadelphia, PA 19102

Dear Bob,

We are writing to express our outrage regarding the actions of your campaign, which have put our six young children at a serious safety risk. Last night, we learned with deep dismay that a Casey operative admitted on KDKA-TV to trespassing on our property and viewing the inside of our home. Further, your campaign issued a press release yesterday that falsely says that we do not stay in our Penn Hills home. This reckless statement is not only a lie, but alerts those who may want to enter the home illegally. Your despicable actions have greatly endangered our children's safety.

Let us remind you that while Rick is a U.S. Senator, Karen and our six young children are not. You are welcome to criticize Rick's positions, but putting our children's privacy and safety at risk has certainly crossed a line we never expected. If anyone associated with our campaign ever put your wife or children in any type of risk, he or she would be fired immediately.

We call on you to immediately dismiss your campaign spokesperson and anyone else on your staff involved with this malicious effort. Anything short of the dismissal of these individuals is your endorsement of this repugnant act.

Your immediate attention to this unfortunate matter would be much appreciated by every member of our family.

Sincerely,

Rick and Karen Santorum

If this accusation is true, then Mr. Casey's got alot of explaining to do. As the Santorums note, it's one thing to "criticize Rick's positions"; it's another to tresspass onto their property, then say that the Santorums' home is empty. This has the potential to put the Santorums in danger of having their home broken into.

---

Posted Monday, May 22, 2006 10:29 AM

No comments.