Suddenly, Casey Finds Himself in a Race

Funny how quickly things change, especially in politics.

Just a few weeks ago, it seemed Sen. Robert Casey was on his way to a landslide re-election bid against Tom Smith.

But this week, the political nerds at The Washington Post have taken Pennsylvania from "solid Democratic" to "leaning Democratic" and that means the moment is on Smith's side.

Mr. Smith is outspending Mr. Casey on the state's airwaves and that's likely to ratchet up in the next few weeks. But before you go out and bet the underdog, consider this context from the aforementioned Post:

To be clear: Casey is still the clear frontrunner here. The Casey name is well known (and liked) in Pennsylvania, and the senator has plenty of money to spend. And with Obama looking strong in the state, Smith would likely have to run 10 points (if not more) ahead of Romney to win. That’s no small feat.

Still, the race has gone from afterthought to intriguing.