Suddenly, with the Erie Times-News endorsement of Rick Santorum for a third term in the U.S. Senate, the newspaper's editorial slant doesn't seem so liberal anymore. That's what I've been hearing all day, anyway.

That's not why we make endorsements, of course. Charges that the tone of our editorial pages is "too liberal" or "too conservative" are monitored to see what some of our readers are thinking. If the criticism is about 50-50, then we're probably pretty close to where we need to be.

Since the newspaper endorsed U.S. Rep. Phil English for another term in congress, followed by a thumbs up for Santorum, an outcry has arisen from readers who say they usually vote Democratic. Other Democrats have been endorsed this year, incidentally, but the congressional and U.S. senate races are the high-profile races.

Interestingly, an angry female reader demanded to know what it was about state Treasuure Bob Casey that so turned us off during his meeting with the editorial board. Well, Casey never appeared before the Times-News editorial board -- that's why he wasn't quoted. I don't mean to imply that it's the reason he didn't get the newspaper's endorsement, but had Casey made the effort to come to Erie to meet with us, it probably wouldn't have hurt his chances. It might have helped them, in fact. Nobody can say that for certain, but, personally speaking, I think Casey missed a good opportunity to sell himself here.

Santorum, running hard but still apparently behind in the polls, has been a frequent visitor to northwest Pennsylvania since spring. Casey has been running a "rose garden" kind of campaign, and, so far, it's been working. These last couple of weeks will likely tell the tale, though, and then we'll know if Casey is a genius, or if he muffed his chances.

Again, let me say that endorsements by the Erie Times-News are not meant to be the final word on a political candidate. Ideally, readers will use the endorsements as a springboard to learn more about the candidates. Then, when they vote on Nov. 7, they'll be well versed on all the candidates and their positions.

For now, it's been kind of fun listening to the reactions of readers. OK, I'll admit, some readers have been angry and more than just a little loud, but if you enjoy politics as much as I do, it's just one more part of a long, interesting campaign.

-- Kevin Cuneo