Santorum hopes for upset win

The Republican Party hopes to send a message to President Clinton this November: your days in office are numbered. And Rick Santorum wants to help deliver that message. The two-term Republican Congressman from Pennsylvania's 18th District -- encompassing the industrial Monogahela Valley as well as most of the Pittsburgh suburbs -- is challenging incumbent U.S. Senator Harris Wofford in one of the most watched races in the country. Wofford's 1991 victory over former U.S. Attorney General and Pennsylvania Governor Dick Thornburgh, a veteran GOP politico, surprised observers and shook the Bush administration's confidence in winning a second term. Now, the GOP is looking for Santorum to turn the tables on Wofford and score a similar upset, perhaps spearheading a Republican takeover in the Senate. "There is an excellent opportunity [for the Republicans to gain control] in the Senate," Santorum said in an interview last week. "This is one of the seats that will determine that." Upsets are nothing new to the 36-year-old Santorum. He defeated seven-term Democratic Congressman Doug Walgren in 1990 with virtually no party support by running a powerful grassroots campaign. When Democratic state lawmakers redrew the 18th District before the 1992 election, Santorum found himself in an unfamiliar blue-collar district and the GOP gave him up for dead. But Santorum fought back with another populist campaign and won with over 60 percent of the vote. Santorum said that this race is different. While claiming he is still running a grassroots effort, Santorum is receiving strong party support. He is also getting national media attention, much of it positive. But Santorum faces a well-organized Wofford campaign orchestrated by political consultants James Carville and Paul Begala -- the same team that engineered Wofford's 1991 victory over Thornburgh and went on to manage Clinton's presidential campaign. Although the election is still two months away, the rhetoric is heating up and the mud is starting to fly. In television ads, Santorum characterizes Wofford as a Washington insider and Democratic Party hack, while Wofford attacks Santorum for missing votes in the House. Santorum defends his record as "a darn good one" and claims Wofford's allegations are "bogus." "My voting record is 93 percent in this Congress," he said. "Wofford's was worse the year he first ran. It's a bogus claim." In the House, Santorum has earned a reputation as a young reformer not afraid to challenge the authority of his party. A member of the so-called "Gang of Seven" freshmen representatives, Santorum fought for full disclosure of the House banking scandal in 1991 and has worked during his second term to cut government spending. "I've always run as a fighter and someone who's independent and that still holds true," Santorum said. Adding that he was not sure what reforms he might push for if elected to the Senate, Santorum chose to attack Wofford instead. "Wofford has become the consummate insider, White House pol who takes his lead from the AFL-CIO, Democratic party and the president," he said. "Those are the people who pull his strings." Santorum said people want an "outsider" in Washington. He sees this election as a referendum on the Clinton agenda. "[The Democrats] are defending the ideas of the 1960s and we are looking for something that is different, for really new ideas," Santorum said. "We need new ideas from a younger generation, new vision for the future that is the next century of American civilization." Santorum's vision stands in stark contrast to most major Clinton initiatives. On higher education, Santorum advocates moderate reforms instead of sweeping change. He opposes the Americorp National Service program as "a government jobs program" and instead proposes a return to "traditional American volunteerism." He also opposes the new direct student loan program recently passed by Congress, claiming that it abandons experienced lending institutions in favor of tinkering with a system that was working satisfactorily. On health care -- the issue which Wofford put on the national agenda during his 1991 campaign -- Santorum also favors a moderate approach: insurance reform. And Santorum again goes after Wofford's record. "[Wofford] peaked the night of his election," Santorum said. "And he's been irrelevant to the process [of health care reform] ever since. "This is a guy who promised everything to get elected and had no idea what do to once he got there," he continued. "It's sad. [Wofford] just became a member of the choir. He had a chance to make an impact and he just let go and let the voters of Pennsylvania down. We need someone more active, more vibrant, and Harris just hasn't been up to it and won't ever be up to it." Santorum said Wofford is now "grasping at straws, willing to vote for any bill that has health care on it in order to say he brought home the health care package he promised." If elected, Santorum said he will spend more time in Pennsylvania listening to voters and helping communities than Wofford did.

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