Former Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA), a darling of the religious right until his landslide defeat in 2006, might be eyeing a political comeback. Santorum is reportedly considering the 2010 governor's race in Pennsylvania, when incumbent Democrat Ed Rendell will be term-limited.

Pennsylvania has had an interesting political cycle ever since the 1950's, with the governorship reliably switching between the two parties every eight years. So if Santorum were nominated in 2010, would that be his perfect time for a comeback? On the other hand, could such an event actually be the Democrats' chance to break the eight-year cycle?

Late Update: Santorum spokeswoman Virginia Davis seemed to down-play the odds of Santorum making another run for office. "Although Senator Santorum has not closed the door on future public service, he has no intention at this time to run for public office," she told Election Central via e-mail.

More voting problems -- this time in Pennsylvania. From the Election Protection coalition's morning update email:

Poll monitors encountered countywide problems with voting machines in Allegheny County, where machines were not working and there was a lack of paper or provisional ballots—long lines resulted, with some voters leaving polling places without voting. EP officials were following up with election officials to resolve the problems. Additional voting machine-related delays were reported in Philadelphia and in Lebanon County.

This morning's Washington Post brings an interesting analysis by George Will of the Pennsylvania Governor's race between Dem incumbent Ed Rendell and GOP former football starr Lynn Swann:

Republican Sen. Rick Santorum, a favorite of social conservatives, is in an uphill struggle to hold his seat. His campaign should help Swann's by energizing the Republican base. But, says Rendell contentedly, the Republican vote consists of three increasingly incompatible factions: the loyal base, the disappointed base that may not vote, and Republican moderates who are "fast concluding there's no place for them in the party." From "gay-bashing" to restrictions on stem cell research, he says, "they're appalled by it all."

Incumbent governor Ed Rendell (D) is safe but Senator Rick Santorum (R) is not, according to a Strategic Vision poll of likely voters that came out today. If the election were held today, Rendell (D) would beat Lynn Swann (R) 49% to 38%, and challenger Bob Casey (D) would beat Santorum 49% to 40%. Rendell would win even though more voters were favorable towards Swann—50% vs. 46%.

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