Whichever Republican emerges -- from a field that for now is weaker than Earl Grey -- to face Sen. Bob Casey might have a big fat torpedo to use from the upcoming vote on the debt limit. The White House has asked that Congress vote to raise the nation's borrowing level beyond $14.3 trillion without preconditions. Republicans, Sen. Pat Toomey among them, want to attach some budget reform to secure their vote, such as a balanced budget amendment.

Politico writes today about how this conundrum is splitting Democrats, saying Casey "sounded open to backing a 'clean' debt limit increase" as requested by the White House. Now this unquoted, mild support does not mean the same as a vote. But it nonetheless could open Casey to charges of hypocrisy, considering that he used debt limit votes to bludgeon Sen. Rick Santorum -- remember him? -- during their campaign. Politico's Jonathan Allen notes that when the pair appeared on NBC's Meet the Press, Casey slammed Santorum over his debt limit votes: