Catholic Social Issues at the Fore in Election Debate

Our Sunday Visitor notes that "Control of Congress [is] up for grabs this fall as pro-life candidates face off in some key races:

It's said that in politics, turnout is everything. The side that does the best job of getting its base to the polls usually wins.

With congressional, state and local elections upcoming in November, Democrats and Republicans are working hard to identify concerns that will move their core supporters to vote. As always, local issues will decide many races, but national issues are crucial, too.

Suddenly, it seems, much more is at stake in these elections than once was thought. Pundits who until recently discounted the chance that the Republicans might lose control of either house of Congress now see a possibility the GOP could lose its majority in one chamber and perhaps both. That would mean at least two years of acrimony and legislative stalemate between the White House and Capitol Hill.

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If Democrats are in the majority, committee chairmanships and control of the committees will be in their hands. Pro-abortion Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) has often annoyed conservatives as chairman of the key Senate Judiciary Committee in the last two years, but a Judiciary Committee with a Democratic majority under the chairmanship of liberal Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) would be a formidable obstacle for socially conservative court nominees to surmount.

Key races
That underlines the significance of certain key Senate races, perhaps especially the reelection bid by Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.). Democrats have made a priority of defeating Santorum, a Catholic who is the third-ranking figure in the Senate Republican leadership and a conservative stalwart.

He is opposed by Democrat Robert Casey Jr., son of the late Pennsylvania governor Robert Casey.

Like his popular father, the young Casey is pro-life, but as a senator he would unavoidably count toward shifting the balance of power in the Senate toward the Democrats. Until recently polls showed Casey leading Santorum by double digits, but lately his lead has shrunk to single digits, and the outcome could be a cliffhanger.

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(emphasis added)