Sinking Santorum: why are gays and lesbians pounding the pavement for a U.S. Senate candidate who opposes same-sex marriage and won't stand up for gays in the military? Look at whom he has a good chance of defeating.

For lesbian and gay political activists, asking for votes in Bella Vista--a progressive urban community on the edge of south Philadelphia just a stone's throw from the city's main gay neighborhood--is like trick-or-treating in subarbia, and canvassers usually get lots of treats. A recent August afternoon was no exception for Mark Dann, a 28-year-old political activist who has dedicated recent efforts in his budding career to electing Pennsylvania Democrat Bob Casey to the U.S. Senate.

A social conservative who opposes same-sex marriage, Casey might seem like an unlikely hero for Dann and other LGBT activists. But Casey has one important thing going for him: He has the potential to beat Republican senator Rick Santorum in the 2006 midterm election this November.

"It's a great reason to get out of bed in the morning," says Dann, after spending three hours in the sweltering summer sun asking Philadelphians to fire Santorum this fall. "We could really change the country."

While gays, lesbians, and their allies across the country solicit votes in an election year marked by upheaval and the potential for a major Democratic upset in Washington, perhaps no single race is being watched with as much anticipation as the U.S. Senate race in Pennsylvania. It's easy to see why. A torchbearer for the religious right, Santorum has championed the Federal Marriage Amendment (a.k.a. the Marriage Protection Amendment) and has publicly attacked the judiciary for supporting gay civil rights. He opposes legislation that would ban job discrimination against gays and a bill that would stiffen penalties for hate crimes.

But it's Santorum's very public condemnations of homosexuality that really rankle gays. The 48-year-old, who grew up in Butler County, Pa., has routinely made antigay comments: as chair of the Senate Republican Conference; in his latest book, It Takes a Family: Conservatism and the Common Good; and wherever else he finds an audience. The most glaring example came in a 2003 interview with the Associated Press when he compared gay sex to bestiality, incest, and pedophilia.

Now, with Majority Leader Bill Frist having announced his retirement from the Senate in January 2007, Santorum could win election to the number 2 spot in the Senate. "There's no greater enemy to the LGBT community than Rick Santorum and, quite frankly, there is no one who is more dangerous," says Joe Solmonese, president of the gay advocacy group Human Rights Campaign.

A Santorum defeat would be a huge symbolic victory for lesbians and gays because it would send a message to antigay special interests that their allies in state and federal office are vulnerable to LGBT voters, says Eric Cheung, 33, a senior attorney at the Clean Air Council who volunteered to pound the pavement with Dann. "It's a lot more than just getting rid of a bad senator," Cheung says.

Braving the heat and humidity on the streets of Bella Vista, Dann, Cheung, and other activists received thumbs up from passersby, neighborly honks from cars, and a few dozen signatures on a petition to expand local housing and employment rights for gays and lesbians. And there were words of support from people such as Joel Palmer, a landlord in faded jeans and a navy polo shirt who lives in a town house on South Ninth Street. "Good work, guys," Palmer affirmed when approached by Dann, who wore a white T-shirt emblazoned with a faded blue head shot of Santorum overlaid with the universal sign for elimination: a red circle with a slash through it. "Anything to get rid of Rick Santorum," added Palmer.

But not everyone agreed, even in this predominantly progressive neighborhood where young urban singles--many of whom are lesbian or gay--rub elbows with straight empty-nesters, and where trendy new shops are popping up next to traditional Italian markets. "You're knocking on the wrong door," said Wilma Hoffman, a 59-year-old cancer researcher who lives in a town house on South Seventh Street. "We're Republican, so you're wasting your time with us," Hoffman told Dann.

Indeed, Dann has no plans to waste his time on Republicans. Volunteers and staffers with his political action committee, Liberty PA, spend their days ensuring that LGBT voters--a vast majority of whom reliably vote Democratic--get to the polls on Election Day. For Liberty PA and its allies, the name of the game is turnout.

Liberty PA founder and statewide director Renee Gilinger estimates that 276,000--or 6%--of the projected 4.6 million Pennsylvanians who will cast ballots in November will be lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. Gilinger bases her estimate on previous national exit polls conducted by the Democratic National Committee. The LGBT bloc could put Casey over the top in a race that Gilinger expects will be decided by about 100,000 voters. "We're going to be what makes Bob Casey win," she told the coterie of canvassers in a pre-canvass pep talk.

But lighting a fire under gay voters--many of whom are disillusioned with a political system that has long failed to deliver simple equality--is easier said than done. Gilinger says that to ensure representation, activists need to make personal contact at least three times with more than 100,000 LGBT and allied voters before Election Day. That kind of sustained outreach is not cheap, and to fund this year's campaign, Gilinger hopes to raise $500,000--a small figure compared to the millions of dollars that will be spent on the race in general but a historically monumental sum to spend on the relatively small LGBT constituency.

By the end of August, Liberty PA had raised more than $340,000. Its first big checks came from Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell, a Democrat who gave $25,000 to the cause, and from the Human Rights Campaign, which chipped in another $30,000. Liberty PA also has gathered donations through a variety of fundraisers, including a series of "retirement parties" for Santorum.

The money helps pay the rent at Liberty PA's no-frills headquarters, occupying three rooms on the third floor of an old office building near several gay bars and bookstores in Philadelphia. Inside, glaring white walls are covered with posters and precinct maps, mismatched desks and chairs sit at odd angles, papers and campaign paraphernalia are strewn about the floor, and bottles of Coca-Cola and boxes of Ritz crackers stand half empty in an open cupboard. The only luxury is an air conditioner, which, Dann joked, was recently considered for an "employee of the month" award.

The budget also pays for five full-time staff members, including Gilinger, Dann, and Brad Stolze, an organizer in Pittsburgh. They make phone calls and organize canvassing once a week in Philadelphia and three or four times a week in Pittsburgh, a more socially conservative city.

Liberty PA is an independent outgrowth of a local chapter of the National Stonewall Democrats and is the main group working on the ground to oust Santorum. Still, Stonewall held its 2006 conference in Pittsburgh to build momentum around the Senate race, and local Stonewall chapters in Harrisburg and Pittsburgh have endorsed Casey. Meanwhile, the Human Rights Campaign is planning a major field campaign to oust Santorum.

Recent polls have put Casey in the lead, but the gap is narrowing. G. Terry Madonna, professor of public affairs at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pa., warns against underestimating Santorum. "No matter what anyone says about his positions, he's a very tough campaigner, and he knows how to win," Madonna says. "Hell fight to the very last ounce of blood. That's the way he is."

A spokesman for Casey failed to return repeated calls seeking an interview, and Santorum spokesman Robert Traynham, who is gay, declined to comment for this story. Meanwhile, Green Party candidate Carl Romanelli was happy to speak to The Advocate and made no secret of his support for total equality, including marriage, adoption, and other rights for gays.

Romanelli was quick to point out that Casey--not Santorum--"plays both sides" by opposing same-sex marriage but supporting civil unions. "It's a false hope to replace a Republican with a Democrat that essentially has the same votes," Romanelli says. "When comparing the two, there's something a little more inherently honest in Rick Santorum."

Many LGBT activists acknowledge that their goals are more closely aligned with Romanelli's positions, but they aren't willing to risk playing the spoiler by voting for him. A Quinnipiac University poll released August 15 showed Casey leading Santorum by a margin of 48% to 42% among likely voters. Romanelli, who draws most of his supporters from the Casey camp, came in a distant third with 5% of the vote. "Most people are going to understand the fact that voting for that third-party candidate is only going to make beating Santorum harder," says HRC regional field director Sultan Shakir.

That's why HRC, Liberty PA, and others are making allowances for Casey's opposition to same-sex marriage, his evasive position on "don't ask, don't tell," and his unwillingness to criticize conservative Supreme Court justice Samuel Alito. And they're also willing to overlook his opposition to abortion rights--a hot-button issue for many gay and, particularly, lesbian voters.

Look on the positive side, they argue: Casey supports civil unions and opposes amending the U.S. Constitution to ban same-sex marriage. He also favors legislation that would ban employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, stiffen penalties for hate crimes, and boost federal funding for HIV/AIDS research. "He's not all the way there yet, but we're talking to him," says Scott Sailer, cochair of the Steel City Stonewall Democrats in Pittsburgh. "You can't talk to Rick Santorum."

Stevens is Washington bureau chief for Women's eNews.