Comments on: Howie Klein’s Blue America: Pennsylvania’s Big Tuesday

By: Jake

Jake — Sun, 14 May 2006 14:54:14 +0000

Anne asked:

Are you willing to accept a conservative view on abortion if the candidate will stand up for workers, reject the K Street boys and demand accountability from the administration on issues like Iraq and Iran and this whole NSA mess?

Sure, if only it were that simple — EXCEPT: Casey won’t reject K Street money, he’s taking from over 200 of the same PACs as Santorum; Casey was for the Iraq invasion and is against any timetable for withdrawal; and he’s on record supporting the NSA (among many bad positions he’s taken):

Question: Would you support Senator Feingold’s motion to censure the President for domestic spying?

Answer: “I don’t think I’d support it. I think we should be making sure we give law enforcement and federal agents the tools they need to fight terrorism.” –Bob Casey Jr., March 20, 2006

Here’s what a Real Democrat says:

Chuck Pennacchio Ad

By: Eleanor

Eleanor — Sun, 14 May 2006 13:06:53 +0000

I agree that Pennacchio is a better candidate. In fact, I made sure to go get my absentee ballot before I went overseas. The girls at Cumberland County elections office let me fill it out and seal it shut on the spot. (The hilarious part of this: their office is in a Richardsonian Romanesque “castle” built in the late 19th c., orginally used as the county jail!!)

I’ve heard the “Philly in the east, Pittsburg in the west and Alabama in the middle” line before, from native-born Pennsylvanians. Given how popular hunting is in the state, it has a certain amount of truth. But even most hunters see no need for the kind of rabid arguments the gun lobby likes to use. And there are pockets of moderate-to-liberal political sentiment throughout rural/small town PA. If there’s a college in town, you’ve got the makings of a liberal/progressive political core who can “spread the faith”, so to speak. And Pennsylvania is lousy with small liberal arts colleges. A progressive Democrat could do better than most want to believe. We’ll see what happens Tuesday.

By: Austin

Austin — Sat, 13 May 2006 22:38:51 +0000

Firstly Casey is extremely anti-labor when he supports Alito and Roberts and opposes living wage legislation. To the point where some Unions actually endorsed Santorum over him. Casey agrees with Santorum on most of the key issues and you can learn about his views in his own words here: www.chuck2006.com/caseyfacts.asp

Chuck Pennacchio is our best chance to defeat Santorum in PA. He has winning experience and grassroots support that is unmatched by his unDemocratic opponent Casey.

Numerous polls show Casey would loose to Santorum once voters become educated about the race whereas Chuck will be victorious in the same situation. There are now 2 Zogby 2 Quinnpiac and 1 Rassmusen poll that all provide the evidence. For example when voters learn Casey and Santorum are both “pro life” Casey looses by 5-7%.

Also every poll shows a long term trend of Casey’s unfavorables climbing and his lead falling. The trend of every single poll shows Casey would loose if we gave him the chance. Also there is history to considerL He lead Rendell by 17 points in a race where he had better name recognition and a bigger money lead (then he will in 06 v Santorum) and he still turned that 17 point lead into a 12 point loss.

Its time to support a real Democrat in PA after all the last successful US Senate election for the Dems was a progressive named Joe Clark in 1962.

Chuck’s 6,000 volunteers, grassroots expertise and county level organizations make him our winning choice.
www.chuck2006.com

By: Pat

Pat — Sat, 13 May 2006 22:12:01 +0000

For those who are concerned by the Democratic Party establishement urban myth that only Casey can beat Santorum there are polling numbers to refute it. The new OpEdNews/Zogby People’s Poll adds to the idea that Bob “I’m a pro-life Democrat” Casey is suffering from electile dysfunction in the Democratic Primary next Tuesday.

Sandals or Pennacchio could beat Santorum if either were given the financial support that Casey has enjoyed from the Democratic leadership.
http://leftindependent.blogspo.....-beat.html

Alan Sandals who reportedly spent close to $500,000 on television advertising, received 43% to Santorum’s 43%.

Chuck Pennacchio, who has raised a total of under $100,000, but who reports having built a grassroots base of 6,000 supporters statewide, received 45% to Santorum’s 43%.

By: Anne

Anne — Sat, 13 May 2006 20:11:43 +0000

Joyful Alternative and Cujo - should probably have kept my mouth shut on PA politics, as my only connection to the state is the hundreds of drivers who speed down SB I83 into Maryland like proverbial bats out of hell, on their way to jobs in downtown Baltimore. :-) It’s like they’re afraid someone will catch them and make them go back where they came from.

You both made valid points about the situation there (as did Howie, of course), which I appreciated. Will definitely be keeping my eye on that race!

By: Nick

Nick — Sat, 13 May 2006 20:08:04 +0000

Screw Pennacchio — get Nader on the phone! Or Michael Moore! Winning is overrated anyway; I’d rather be pure of heart. For Christ’s sake … can we come back from Pluto and realize the only objective here is beating Santorum, and that Chuck Pennacchio has as much chance of that as Hillary does of being President?

By: nellieh

nellieh — Sat, 13 May 2006 19:41:55 +0000

Thank you for pointing out “Schumer’s contemptible and treacherous tactics against Paul Hackett.” I absolutely could not believe it when it happened. For the Democratic Party(National and State) to allow a viable, attractive, electable, Iraq War Veteran, who almost beat a wingnut in wingnut territory get away is as stupid as stupid does. Now their hand picked candidate to replace Brown lost the primary and put his safe (if he ran for it) in play. Brown had already turned down the chance to run for Senate when they asked Hackett to run. Schumer’s idea. Brown changed his mind, Hackett got stabbed in the back and the Senate seat and Brown’s district is in play. If the Democrats retake the House and/or Senate it will be in spite of the Party leaders and advisors(parasites)

By: Carol Corbett

Carol Corbett — Sat, 13 May 2006 18:45:37 +0000

I am FURIOUS that Bob Casey is the so-called democratic choice to oppose Santorum. Heard him on the radio the other day and before they said who it was I thought I was LISTENING TO SANTORUM. There are a lot of good Democrats in this state. Why run a Santorum-lite?

By: Cujo359

Cujo359 — Sat, 13 May 2006 18:25:32 +0000

Anne @ 7:44 am (#49), Joyful Alternative @ 10:23 am (#83) - PA politics are nowhere near as simple as “Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Alabama in between”. Some parts are like Alabama, but there are several large population centers that used to be industrial towns and are now trying to find ways to prosper. It’s not hicks and sticks everywhere.

The worst thing about PA politics is the corrupt nature of the Democratic machine there. That needs to be weakened or changed as much as Santorum needs to be removed. Replacing Santorum with someone who is just like Santorum but with a (D) after his name won’t change a thing, and it will make the machine stronger.

Being “pragmatic” has gotten us exactly where we are today. On Tuesday Pennsylvanians have a chance to vote for real change in several local Congressional races and their Senate race. Wait till November to vote for Casey, if he’s still running.

By: Joyful Alternative

Joyful Alternative — Sat, 13 May 2006 17:23:15 +0000

Anne at #49: “Thereâ€™s a reason Pennsylvania has elected people like Santorum over and over again, and I have to believe itâ€™s because there is not a large enough population of progressive/liberal voters who can counter the conservatives; if Pennsylvania were comfortable with an ultra-liberal, Santorum would have been out long ago.”

This is disproved by the last candidate the PA Democratic Party ran against Santorum, an anti-choice conservative who lost big. There’s actually a large swing vote of liberal Republicans who’ll vote D for a liberal but will vote party line or stay home if the D is antichoice, etc. From their standpoint, “Casey is, in fact, interchangeable with Santorum.”

If Chuck Schumer would have allowed an open primary, the likely winner would have been Barbara Hafer, a former liberal Republican who has won many statewide races and converted to Democrat when she couldn’t stomach the Bush version of Republican any longer, and a sure winner of the general election.