On the October 31 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, host Bill O'Reilly declared Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) to be “the terror warrior” while discussing his bid for re-election against Democratic challenger Bob Casey Jr. During an interview with Santorum, O'Reilly twice referred to Santorum as “the terror warrior” and asked of Santorum, "[W]hy, then, if you're the terror warrior -- and your voting record shows you are -- why is he [Casey] ahead in the polls so big?" Recent polls show Casey leading Santorum by between 10 and 17 percentage points. For his part, Santorum suggested “the danger” from North Korea, Iran, and Venezuela “is now,” and asserted that if voters elected “people like Bob Casey, who don't understand the threat ... we're going to be in a world of hurt in a very short period of time.”

From the October 31 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor:

O'REILLY: OK, but do you believe that Casey is unaware of the threat? Is the man unaware of it?

SANTORUM: I think the guy is absolutely clueless as to what's facing this country. He has accused me of fearmongering and lecturing people.

We don't need a lecture, he says, about, you know, what the threats are. We just -- we need to fire [Defense Secretary] Donald Rumsfeld. I mean, it's just -- it's silly. I mean, it's almost, it's almost laughable to look at the reaction that he has on these very complex and serious issues.

He's someone who doesn't understand the difficulties we face. His whole objective is to try to, you know, blame the administration, point the finger, say as little as possible, and really not confront the issues.

O'REILLY: OK, but why then --

SANTORUM: All I can tell you is --

O'REILLY: -- why, then, if you're the terror warrior -- and your voting record shows you are -- why is he ahead in the polls so big? You know, so what is it -- if you're the terror warrior and you're bringing the message to Pennsylvanians, which are equally divided between Republican and Democrat. Why is he so far out in front?

[...]

O'REILLY: They're reacting emotionally. It's 3 1/2 years, and Pennsylvanians coming back dead and maimed. And you're trying to convince them of a danger ahead in 15 years. It's very tough.

SANTORUM: No, no, no, it's not a danger ahead in 15 years, Bill. This is a danger ahead -- this is now. This is North Korea with a nuclear weapon. This is Iran working with A.Q. Khan, the same person that's working with North Korea that has now has developed the second centrifuge and says that we're 10 steps closer than anyone thought to developing and enriching uranium.

Now this is Venezuela that said it's got a million-person army, that's building 20 military bases in Bolivia, to try to use oil as he says -- as [Venezuelan President Hugo] Chavez says -- for a weapon to gain control. He's trying to get Daniel Ortega elected in Nicaragua. And these are real threats now, Bill.

And, you know, you and I are in some respects cut out of the same cloth. You don't mess around. You look at people and you tell them what you really think. I'm going to do that. And if, you know, that wins me the election, so be it. If people don't want to hear it, if people think, well, you know, we can protect ourselves, you know, we can get out of there, and we'll leave -- if we leave them alone, they'll leave us alone -- I'm telling you right now, they're not going to leave us alone.

And if you put in people like Bob Casey, who don't understand the threat, well, all they want to do is to figure out a way to dance around issues and not confront them -- like not developing a bunker busting bombs, like not doing a missile defense system, like not confronting Iran -- if you're going to have guys like that, then you're going to -- we're going to be in a world of hurt in a very short period of time.

O'REILLY: All right, senator, we appreciate you taking the time. We know you're very busy.

SANTORUM: Yeah.

O'REILLY: Thank you. And again, Mr. Casey is welcome any time he wants to show up.