Chuck 06

Doctor Octopus · Member

Chuck 06

LV Dem · Veteran Member

The guy is as foolish a candidate as there is. He has zero elected service, has spent his professional career as a political hack before becoming a history professor at an ultra liberal arts school and he brings the kind of radical ideas that will turn off many moderate Democrats like myself. If the wacko for some unimaginable reason does get the nomination, I'll abstain from voting in that column. Sorry, but the PA Democratic party has two subparties; the wealthy philadelphia area progressives and the conservative Casey Democrats. (I'm a mix of both personally) Chuck doesn't fit into either of them and thankfully won't receive much credibility from many party followers. I do, however, hope that he stays in and provides reasonable opposition to Casey b/c anytime there is primary competition there is free media for the candidates--often senseless free media that creates a great deal of momentum for the eventual winner of the campaign. Free media is good media as far as I'm concerned. Besides, this guy will not have the credibility to move Casey anywhere away from his current stated positions.

Bloodman · Newbie

I'm sorry, but I have to disagree with you on Chuck Pennacchio's candidacy. He certainly is a legitimate candidate, and I am confident that he will indeed get the nomination.

Doctor Octopus, while I like your name, I am a bit disappointed for your reasoning behind who you'll vote for. If you truly agree with Casey on more of the issues, then by all means vote for the man. However, it doesn't sound like that is the case. I believe that the worst mistake Democrats can make is to vote for the person that they think has the best chance to win. Remember, it was John Kerry who won the primaries because he was considered the most "electable." And we all know how that one turned out. I wonder how many Dean supporters switched their votes and are now cursing themselves. Anyway, all I can ask is that you give the man a chance. Hell, there's still a year to go before the primary next year. See what happens.

And as for you, LV Dem, there's no need to call the man names. If you prefer a conservative Democrat, good for you. But Chuck Pennacchio isn't a wacko just because he doesn't agree with you on everything. If you love Casey so much, then go ahead and support him. But there's no need to sling stupid names around for no reason.

Hope to see more posts here soon. See ya!

Your pal,

Eric

Froggy · Newbie

If my choice is between Santorum and Casey, my vote will go to Santorum. I would prefer to be screwed over by a republican than a democrat. I am pro choice, anti guns, anti Iraq war and pro separation of church and state. Casey is none of those. He is a republican running as a democrat. Casey vs Santorum is a lose, lose situation. Casey is bad for the party. Voting for Casey is the same as telling the democratic party to move to the right. Yes, I will vote for Chuck Pennacchio in the Primary and probably in the General because he has a much better chance of beating Casey than he is getting credit for, I have seen him in action and he is gaining support rapidly.

chuckforpa · Member

I too will be voting for Chuck in the primaries (just in case my screen name doesn't give it away:) Chuck is right on many issues that the majority of PA believes in : for example, he is pro-choice and in favor of federal funding of stem cell research, and he is against the Iraq war. But aside from his positions, he is a great, articulate speaker and more importantly he is not afraid to state his position on more controversial issues. Casey often mumbles during interviews, and he seems to want to avoid talking about his positions on abortion, stem cell research, gun control... anything that might potentially deter liberal Democrats from voting for him. A recent poll of PA dems showed that the vast majority didn't even know Casey's position on abortion; a few assumed he was pro-choice, and only a very few knew he was pro-life. What happens when the pro-choice Democrats find out that Casey is pro-life? Also, consider that Arlen Spectre (pro choice / pro stem cell research) is very popular here.

Yes it is true Casey has experience in office, but those elections are very low profile. I can't even remember who Casey ran against in for treasurer. Casey does benefit from sharing his father's name, but that will not win him the election. Many pro-life / pro-gun republicans whill not vote for Casey because they will not trust him. Check out www.caseyisaliberal.com I am not here to bash Casey, he has a very good position on economic issues, but I have serious doubts about his ability to beat Santorum.

chuckforpa · Member

I would also add that gun control is a very big issue in the African American community; black voters tend to strongly favor gun control, which makes sense, considering that many of them live in inner cities where there exists a very real threat of gun violence. Bob Casey is against gun control, while Chuck Pennacchio supports it. Chuck does support the right of citizens to purchase guns for their protection, but he wants to require gun manufacturers to build new guns with child safety locks.

LV Dem · Veteran Member

Stop acting like this is some kind of spontaneous support for the guy. Anybody with 1/2 a cent knows that Chuck's campaign is trying to drum up noise for him in anyway possible and that message board blitzes are one of those methods (yes, I get the emails). If you think that he will crack 20%, you're just not reading PA politics too well. Abortion and gun control are not as big in the Democratic Party in PA... Bob Casey Sr demonstrated that and so did Ron Klink (though he was without a doubt the worst candidate to ever get lucky with a primary win). Pennsylvania Democrats look at the broad range of our party--union rights, affordable health care, the economy, the environment, minimum wage, social security. If abortion or gun control are the only issues you are interested in, you are an issue voter and could care less about the sum values of equality and equal rights that form the foundation for our party. And to the guy that said he would rather vote for Santorum than Casey... don't even try to claim you're a Democrat. Our party is a party of complete ideals and values, not two issues that frankly the elites on the Main Line use to make themselves feel more intelligent and well-educated than the rest of the party. The gun in my living room has nothing to do with the violence that is going on in Philly. If you were a real liberal you would realize poverty and injustice are the contributing factors, not my gun (which frankly is demonstrated to be far safer than the family swimming pool that many people have).

Bob Casey is going to win this primary with more than 75% of the vote. If he doesn't, I'll be the first one to send a check to Chuck and I challenge each of you to say the same thing if Casey wins. Let's put our money where our mouths are.

chuckforpa · Member

Who said abortion and gun control are the only issues they care about? There is also the issue of the Iraq war, stem cell research, campaign finance reform, etc.

Unless you are a convicted murderer, gun control advocates don't want to take your guns away. Gun control does not mean taking away guns from law abiding citizens, it is about preventing guns from falling into the hands of kids. It is about preventing innocent children from finding their parent's gun and hurting themselves. If requiring the gun manufacturers to put safety locks on their guns prevents even one innocent child's death, then in my mind it is worth it.

But can I ask where you think criminals get their guns from? Yes, many criminals buy their guns on the black market, but where do those guns come from? They are first purchased legally in our country and then resold. If you want to have a few guns for protection or hunting that is perfectly understandable. But why does anyone need to buy unlimited guns without so much as a criminal background check (unless you plan on reselling them on the black market you should have nothing to hide). Who actually needs an assault weapon for protection?

Yes, health care / economic issues are extremely important issues, but they are not the only issues that affect the poor. Who needs the right to have an abortion more than poor women? If Roe v. Wade is overturned, a wealthy suburban woman could probably either drive to a state where abortion is still legal, or just deal with having an unexpected child. A poor woman on the other hand, would not have many options.

If Bob Casey is as electable as you say, he should have no problem winning the primary. If Bob Casey wins the primary, then he'll have my vote in the general election.

LV Dem · Veteran Member

Don't even start on gun control. We have laws that protect kids. The guns that end up on the black market are overwhelmingly there b/c of theft, not b/c they are sold. In order to prevent my gun from getting on the black market, you will need to either prevent it from being stolen (can be done, but not a guarentee) or take it away and prevent anybody from using it. You're best attack on my gun control position is to claim that the 2nd amendment is outdated and that my rifle doesn't contribute to a well regulated militia. You can, and probably should, argue that if I want a gun so badly to contribute to a well regulated militia that I should volunteer for the national guard. I have no rebuttle for that except to site the PA constitution which goes further in deliniating my constitutional right to keep and bear arms.

And on abortion, I think the focus should be preventing abortions and I think you will agree. We can both agree that finding a way to prevent abortion is more desirable than even having to ask the question of whether or not abortion should be legal or not. And while I don't have numbers on this available right now, I'm sure if you checked the economic stats on abortion you would find white suburban women make up a much larger portion of the population than do poor minority women.

And I'm not asking you to vote for Casey when he wins. I'm asking you to continue your financial commitments to Democrats in order to win, assuming of course that you've given to chuck.

Bloodman · Newbie

I agree that we should probably vote for Casey if he ends up winning the nomination, but that doesn't mean we have to support him now. Obviously anybody's better than Santorum. That's not the issue. We have to vote for the person that we believe in and agree with the most. For me, and I think most Pennsylvania Democrats, that's Chuck Pennacchio.

By the way, anybody interested in Pennacchio's campaign should join his Yahoo Group. Even if you're not sure about him, or if you support Casey or something, check it out anyway. It's a good place to discuss ideas and offer suggestions. Here's the link:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Pennacchio_for_Pennsylvania/

See ya!

Your pal,
Eric

LV Dem · Veteran Member

I think the primary election in 2006 will show you're wrong about most Dems agreeing with Chuck. I don't even think most progressives agree with him. He goes to far out of the party's mainstream and caters to the left. There are many of us, party activists included that don't go to the left. Why are we better than the GOP? B/c we don't let the fringes dictate our fate.

chuckforpa · Member

LV,
The abortion issue is essentially split 50 / 50. Polls in PA generally show a slight majority consider themselves pro-choice. It shouldn't really be considered a "liberal" position, just as the position of a pro-life Democrat shouldn't be considere "conservative". These labels are thrown around way too casually these days. I would argue that the "pro-life" Republicans position could be called conservative because they are usually anti stem cell research and birth control, too.

The oppossition to the Iraq war is growing rapidly. The majority of citizens now oppose this war and want us to bring the troops home as quickly as possible. Chuck is not "on the fringe" about this issue. I would say the people who would call for immediate withdrawal from Iraq might be considered far left, but Chuck is not one of those people.

You argue that Pennacchio supporters should be support Casey if he wins the nomination; personally, I will vote for him in the gen election if he wins the primary. However, you can't expect to convince progressive Democrats to vote for Casey when you say you wouldn't vote for Chuck if he won the nomination. How is that fair? If you consider yourself a dedicated, lifelong Democrat then be prepared to vote for whoever wins the primary.

LV Dem · Veteran Member

to your credit that's what I did type, but I meant to say that many Dems like myself will vote for Santorum. I'll vote for a D any day. Just understand there are a lot of Dems that won't. I would like to point out that no candidate running for office statewide in PA has run without previous office holding experience in mylife time: sans one--Casey. All other candidates have held public office of some kind (check on Fisher though... i might be wrong). My point is that PA puts a premium on those that hold office before they represent the entire state (the closest to winning was Lynn yeakel in 1992... she never held office before hand). Chuck isn't going to get there.

And I"ve read, "What's the matter with Kansas" and I agree whole heartedly with the commentary on wedge issues that the GOP uses to distract it's poorer rank and file voters from the real issues. And I say real issues b/c I don't view any candidate running for office as having the kind of impact they claim to have have on abortion.

That being said, let's fight our battle now in the primary... personally I'd love to see a huge public fight b/c when there is a contentious primary, it generates free media. I'm so confident Casey would win that fight b/c Chuck isn't Ed Rendell... that's why Casey lost. He ran into a really incredible campaigners (I worked on Rendell's student committee during the primary and got to see up close a master). Nobody could have beaten Rendell that year. He was the perfect storm of a candidate. I don't think Chuck could ever hope to be that b/c quite frankly it involves access to the philly media market that he doesn't have b/c of resources.

Yes, the deck's stacked, but it's the reality of politics. The Casey's of the world will always have the advantage over the rest of them.