Senator Santorum's bid for re-election

Thank God we have some of the smartest politicians in the history of this country. The New York Times (my emphasis):

Mr. Santorum was a symbol of the conservative movement in its brash youth; now, in many ways, he embodies the movement in middle age, 12 years after taking control of the House and Senate, no longer so confident that the political winds are with it, especially in an anti-incumbent year.

He needs to reintroduce himself over the next four months, he said, to get beyond the stereotypes. "I have to fight against five and a half years of the mainstream media, particularly local press, telling their side of the story," he said.

He said he wanted Pennsylvanians to think of him as a political heir to Alfonse M. D'Amato of New York, who was known as Senator Pothole for being acutely attuned to constituent needs. (Perhaps not the most auspicious role model, since Mr. D'Amato was unseated by an ambitious Democrat, Charles E. Schumer.)