SCRANTON - After nearly two years locked in a bitter and relentless campaign, Bob Casey Jr. finally reached the stage last night a winner.
As predicted by numerous polls, Casey defeated Republican incumbent Rick Santorum last night to become Pennsylvania's first Democratic senator since 1995.
"Pennsylvania is where America started, and I believe in my heart that Pennsylvania is where the new direction for America begins," Casey said in his acceptance speech hours after he was declared the winner.
Following Santorum's concession speech in Pittsburgh, Casey arrived to greet his supporters at the Scranton Cultural Center, flashing a smile and filled with an obvious sense of relief as he took the stage.
He told the crowd of a phone call he received that night from Santorum - whose name was greeted with boos - in which the two candidates eschewed the negative attacks that marked their campaigns and instead talked only of "the future."
Casey looked forward in his speech, as well. He talked of improving access to health insurance, increasing the minimum wage, fiscal responsibility, ethics reform and a change in Iraq policy.
"I really believe tonight that this state spoke with one voice, and that voice was a clarion call for change," he said.
Last night's victory came nearly 20 months after Casey was hand-picked by national Democrats to challenge Santorum, who is currently the third-ranking Republican in the Senate.
The move has been seen as emblematic of a conscious effort by the Democratic Party to field moderate candidates with a better chance to win in states such as Pennsylvania, Montana and Tennessee, despite holding views that may not necessarily align with the party platform.
Casey's own pro-life stance has been widely criticized by Democrats who view him as too socially conservative to represent the party. But with the backing of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Casey easily won the nomination in May.
Casey took advantage of a growing dissatisfaction with Santorum's stances on Social Security, the war in Iraq and various social issues. Despite being the challenger in the contest, Casey ran a frontrunner's campaign, focusing his strategy on carefully reminding voters of Santorum's conservative voting record and making sure that he made no big mistakes himself on the campaign trail.
The election turned ugly late, with Casey running ads decrying Santorum's use of a Pennsylvania cyber-charter school for his children, who live in Virginia, and Santorum attacking his Democratic opponent's work ethic. The vicious attacks came to a head in mid-October, when the two candidates seemed to nearly come to blows in a debate in Pittsburgh.
But Casey didn't dwell on the past last night.
"We have to chart a new course for America," he said. "Tonight, as one people, we have to roll up our sleeves and get to work on changing America."
