I'MMA LET YOU FINISH
Blibbidy blobbidy
Apparently Beinert is the Wanke(r) of the day.
Santorum's pit bull zealotry does turn a lot of people off, at least according to my sister in Bryn Mawr, but what did Truman say?
Something about when given a choice between a real Republican and a fake Republican, the people elect the real thing.
I don't believe Casey is necessarily the best candidate for this race (by "best candidate" we mean "most likely to beat Santorum" and not any other considerations).
Is there supposed to be a word in front of "by" after the parentheses? Unless you're using the roayl "we" later? This looks kind of confusing...
wow, I guess that was the royal we. fixing...
Ooooh, local politics!
Really, it's cool... more, please!
Getting rid of Santorum is more than just "local politics."
While we're looking at PA Democratic Party politics, how about a gander at this posting at MyDD:
PA Democratic Party to DFA: "No Blog For You"
It sounds like we're moving from a no-blog PA Democratic Party website to a "we'd be better off with no official blog" PA Democratic Party website...
Pennsylvania is a big state. Don't they have someone like our Schumer to push?
What gives? Why so weak?
While not a Pennsylvanian resident, I'd like to think the fact that Santorum doesn't even live in the state is going to be a turn-off to a lot of the moderate, more sane republican voters. Sure, they'll stick to the party and vote for him. But where will the enthusiasm be? Especially in a mid-term election, how much effort will a lot of republicans go to to vote for their candidate if they don't really like him?
I believe a contested primary will help keep the energy level of the Democratic base going, carrying the passion into the general election. If Casey is "anointed" as the candidate I fear it will suck the life out of the grassroots and then the Democrats could be faced with the same "I guess I should go vote for my guy if I can find the time" ennui that I think republicans might show.
Naturally my entire theory of motivation could be totally invalid, especially if the Rovian orcs figure out how to get some hot-button culture war issue on the ballot to drive turnout for Santorum.
Oh, and gotta love this comment about a PA Democratic Party blog...
Well, he said Pennsylvania would be getting a blog, in short order. Only, it will be a blog focused on the re-election campaign of Governor Ed Rendell.
Even dems try controlling politics. I think PA should have the choice of a pro-choice or a pro-life. Let the voters decide.
Beinart was a "wanker" as far back as when Wolf was doing his roundtable on Sundays.
Our esteemed County Clerk (unfortunately a dem who I have voted for several times) is merging our polling places just prior to our mayoral election. Had our primary in Feb in old polling place, will now have to vote at a place I can no longer just walk to. We fought him on this just prior to the presidential election and he backed down because he made the fatal mistake of telling the newspapers what he was going to do. This time he has learned his lesson and is in the process of mailing out new voter cards without our interference.
Heh. The DLC types in action:
It ain't gonna happen (I believe that is even a quote).
What was the excuse? He said money. I told him the party would raise money online. He said that the state party is in debt. I told him that getting a blog up can be free. He said they didn't have staff to work it. I told him there were plenty out there that would love to write for the blog. I even pointed to Chris Bowers of MyDD (sorry Chris). He said they hired a consultant from Massachusettsto look into it. Great...
And they wonder why they have lost 14 straight full-term U.S. Senate elections in PA.
The Democratic party machinery in upstate NY in Albany is the same way, they still spend more energy fighting off activsts and reformers.
This is why we now have the Working Families Party. We are nearly all Democrats but can't work with the snorkel brains in our party.
I'm a pro-reproductive rights Democratic committemember in Delaware County. I will work willingly for a Rendell-Casey ticket. I disagree with Casey on abortion and gun control, but he's a good Democrat, good on labor, good on education, good on health care, good on Social Security. We can use his voice on those issues in Washington.
Having lived most of my life in Pennsylvania (Philly, it's suburbs and upstate), I can tell you it's really a very conservative state.
You don't have to travel very far from Philly before you're in NRA and Jesus country...big time.
If I can repeat James Carville's quote. "Pennsylvania is Philadelphia on one side, Pittsburgh on the other and Alabama in the middle."
Pennsylvania is a big state. Don't they have someone like our Schumer to push?
What gives? Why so weak?
It's not fair to call Casey Jr. a "fake Rebublican" because he is pro-life. His father, a two-term Governor of PA held the same views, probably influenced by his faith and Jesuit education. The democrats, to their shame, disregarded Casey and disrespected him at the 92 convention, mostly because of one issue. In doing so they overlooked his many other accomplishments, including helping Harris Wofford get elected to John Heinz's former Senate seat. The seat Santorum went on to take from him a few years later. I know there are many Catholics in the 4-county area around Philly that would welcome a pro-life Democratic candidate.
All the Casey's are boring. They appear to be made out of wallpaper paste and I don't know who keeps shoving them to the front of the line.
I live in PA in Kanjorski's territory, thankfully redistricted out of Sherwood's. People forget a good part of PA is appalachia.
You are right, Elaine. As a Democrat from Western PA, I have wondered why there are few viable Democratic senatorial candidates. I supported Joe Hoeffel last year, but he may not run against Santorum.
It will still come down to who can mudsling the best anyway, combined with GOTV efforts.
If we can put more of the right kind of subliminal messages into their heads that make them question Santorum, this will work.
It seems to me that that a large block of people voted for Bush against Kerry because of a hunch, something almost subconscious, and if we can create the same kind of doubt in the minds of people it would work.
MYOB'
.
Also, you used the example of Klink. I think a lot of people thought he was the guy from Hogans' Heroes and didn't want to vote for a Nazi, even an incompetent one.
Santorum's has to be on Rove's "Must Win A-List". So expect big bucks, dirty tricks and endless visits by Bush to support Santorum.
The NRA played an enormous and anonymous advertising campaign to support Santorum in 2000 through something called "Freedom America" (or something like that). It was all laundered NRA money supporting Santorum with the NRA connection hidden.
OT, but via Kos, an extremely insightful post on the most important issue in history!
At least according to CNN...
this is going to be an interesting primary. santorum (that frothy mixture) might draw a wingnuttier repugnican opponent than himself, wanting to know why abortion is still legal when the man-on-dog boy has had six years to criminalize it. and pennachio already has the meme of the year, so far: "it's not enough to be pro-life, we must be pro-lifetime."
also take into account the active effort by the dem machine to "non-person" dr. pennachio, and you can see they're concerned that a real democrat might upset their anti-choice, pro-piratizing republican-lite applecart.
local politics indeed.....
From the testimonials here, I can tell that Casey may be a good candidate, but here's a whacky idea - how about letting the Democratic voters of Pennslyvania have a choice so they can decide who best represents their views? If they go for the anti-choice guy, that's on them.
Party bosses and beltway insiders were the major factor in getting us into this mess in the first place.
-
The democrats, to their shame, disregarded Casey and disrespected him at the 92 convention, mostly because of one issue.
And thast issue was: REFUSING TO ENDORSE THE CLINTON-GORE TICKET.
Would the Rethugs ever allow someone to speak at their convention who didn't endorse the ticket?
I didn't think so.
Is there a pro-choice Dem in PA who would be reasonably competitive in Pennsyltucky? (By reasonably competitve, I mean someone who would hold Santorum's vote there down at least to the hardcore minimum, be it 60% or 70% or whatever.)
Another reason for the relative weakness of Dems in PA is the decline in union membership in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.
PENNSYLVANIA: Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, with Mississippi in between...
Penn State's like an outpost of civilization somewhere in between...
I think of the vast preponderance of PA in the same way i think of the huge majority of oklahoma: ugh!
Asshole is an extreme pro-life Republican. Seems beating him must be the priority. Single-issues should not disqualify an otherwise good Democratic candidate. I will do what I can to help Pennsylvanians get rid of Asshole, whomever the Democratic candidate is.
But it seems that this one issue is more important in today's climate. Although a single issue should not be a litmus test for judicial nominees, a pro-life Democrat may not be inclined to vote against a Bush nominee who is opposed because of abortion rights. That does tend to make this issue an important issue.
If abortion is to be an important issue in Pennsylvania, it would seem to be important to have an actual difference between the candidates come the Fall of 2006.
Check out this bit-o-nastiness Athena dug up over at Kos.
Santorum to End 40-Hour Work Week
There are waitresses in center Pa too - I don't think they will be very happy that Senator Dogfuck wants to eliminate the meager hourly portion of thier paychecks.
In addition to changing overtime calculations from a 40 hour week to an 80 hour/2 week average, Dogman's proposal would also eliminiate overtime pay altogether for 8.8 million hourly workers.
I think we can add slaveowner to Santorum's resume.
And that issue was: REFUSING TO ENDORSE THE CLINTON-GORE TICKET.
Wile E. Odysseus
I love the Internets. Wait 30 minutes, and the entire picture emerges..
-
Casey is a great candidate -- and far more liberal than Rendell except on abortion.
Another pro life dem in the senate isn't going to matter -- he's not going to favor right wing judges because they are bad on so many issues he cares about, like the right wing judiciary's dismantling of labor law, worker's rights, environmental protection, etc.
Casey is an old style liberal -- very pro union, very pro worker, and he's already made it clear that saving Social Security will be the theme of his campaign against Santorum, the lead privatizer in the Senate. This guy is no Joe Lieberman. He won't be looking to compromise with the republicans on core issues. His race may set the tone for 2008 - dems for the workers, the retirees, the little guy, and corporate whores like Santorum looking to screw you and your family to favor their campaign contributors.
Penn State (State College) was probably meant to be an "outpost of civilization". The story goes that it was located by drawing 2 criss-crossing diagonals through the state so that the state land grant university would be at the geographic center of the state.
But man, it really is gun lovers and Jesus freaks run amuck outside of town. I lived there for 3 years.
I heard this morning -- I think on NPR -- that Santorum is thinking seriously of running for president in 2008 and is positioning himself for that. But has to win reelection in 2006 first.
Go Wile & Fielding.
Paul Begula put that old lie to bed at least 3 times on Crossfire but it is still out there. Ah, life & lies.
Check out this bit-o-nastiness Athena dug up over at Kos.
JoeW
Link is kefrappled.
I'd hazard a guess that the ultimate rethug goal is to eliminate the formal distinction between full-time and part-time work. Under the guise of freedom of enterprise, that status will be negotiable between employer and employee.
They might relegate it to the states, then stand back as businesses rush to relocate to the states with lax standards.
A century of painful struggle for workers' rights is being rolled back before our eyes, one lizard bite at a time.
-
Excellent analysis, Atrios. The Dems can do better; let's hope that they do.
"But man, it really is gun lovers and Jesus freaks run amuck outside of town."
Actually, this sounds just like Pittsburgh. One of the fastest growing (read: sprawl to the max) suburbs in the US, the town of Cranberry, is about 15 mi north. My former employer moved out there after 70 yrs in the city. All I got out of it (before they fired me) was a huge downgrade in my lunch choices and an extra dose of smug for all the Rethugs I was stuck working with.
The Rethugs in the State Legislature have Rendell by the nuts while he begs them for more transit money for Pgh. and Philly. If he doesn't realize that we have to mobilize EVERY POSSIBLE VOTE against these clowns, he's hopeless.
May I suggest Chaka Fatah? He is my favorite PA congressman and nails the bastards everytime he is on any TV show.
Also, for you cat lovers has anyone ever visited the PA Game Commission? I paid a trip to this bastion of manliness in '03 when they wanted to fine $100 to anyone helping feral cats by neutering them. Talk about intimidating!
It was sickening to see all the dead raptors, deer, and whatever mounted on their million dollar headquarters' walls. We managed to save the kitties that time as they backed down for the first time.
Casey is a terrible campaigner, the Santorum/Rove machine will crush him. The more I hear about Pennachio the more I like him.
I'm surrounded by NYC refugees who can't afford housing there and come to PA. First things they do: buy an SUV. Buy a big dog and chain to a tree and leave it there. Buy a gun and shoot up the backyard, no matter how close other houses are. Buy an ATV for the kids and roar up, down and through the woods everywhere scaring the shit out of everything.
As a native of one of those four suburban Philadelphia counties (Delaware, to be precise, although I haven't lived there since high school, my folks still do), I can vouch for their importance in Pennsylvania politics. I can also vouch for how much things have changed there politically. What was solid conservative suburban has become the proverbial battle ground area, and it was visible, you could see it, when I went to visit my parents last October. The political signage was literally almost ever other house --Kerry, Bush, Kerry, Bush. And there was more of it than I had ever seen before.
While Atrios is right that there are many suburban moderate (the all too talked about soccer mom and dad) voters there, there are also single issue abortion voters -- Pennsylvania is a very Catholic state. It drove my mom, who volunteered for Kerry, nuts to talk with some of her Catholic neighbors and hear them say they were voting for Bush on abortion, end of story.
All of which is to say that abortion is a critical issue in PA, indeed, but that it is hard to know what is the "best" stance. (I, too, tend to think that those who vote on this one issue will vote for Santorum no matter what the Democrats throw up there.) The idea that the primary campaign should play out without Rendell and other Party bigwigs trying to anoint a winner certainly seems like a novel one, perhaps it should be tried some time ...
But isn't Casey a proven vote getter in PA?? Didn't he win some huge vote share in his run for Treasurer or whatever.
As far as uncontested primaries...for every example you can cite where an uncontested primary has hurt Dems there's an example where a contested primary has hurt as well. CW is not always wrong. If Casey is currently polling 10-15 points ahead of Santorum the only thing that could lose it for Casey would be criticism of his anti-choiceness during a Dem primary by pro-choice Dems. At the end of the day it's almost meaningless because no Dem Senator is going to come to DC and push for a ban on abortion.
I am furiuos with these guys. Fuck Rendell. Fuck Schumer. Fuck Reid. And yes Fuck that coward sellout Barbara Hafer. Seems there is not one democrat among these Democrats. Fuck their "smoke filled room." And...GO PENNACHIO!
Please forgive the profanity. I am just sooooo pissed off! If not for the possibility Chuck Pennachio giving these asses a run for their money i would be out of the party like a shot. I only stay registered Democrat because of the primary and they want to take THAT away! Fuck 'em.
Regarding the 40 hour work week and upstate waitresses. They may be the easiest to bamboozle.
Just throw in a little 9/11 anxiety and "anti-religious freedom" hysteria and the waitresses won't might making sacrifices...after all we're at war you know.
hey Atrios,
typo in the first sentence. turn "spector" into "santorum"
otherwise, great post. i completely agree
YES YES YES. Eligere refuses to fall in line behind a mediocrity.
This is not how you get good government. And Ed, don't bother calling me to support your reelection campaign. You don't care about my fundamental rights; I don't care about your political ambitions.
I wish Chris Heinz would run against Scrotorum in the GOP primary.
"And yes Fuck that coward sellout Barbara Hafer. Seems there is not one democrat among these Democrats. "
Isn't Hafer a Republican?
She ran against Casey, Sr. (he of the fetus fetish) and I voted for her.
The Casey = Klink analogy is pretty bogus. Klink was an unknown with no statewide name recognition and no support or funding from DC who got 47% against little Riki last time out. Casey won a statewide race with the largest margin ever in the history of the state, has his own organization, will have Rendell strongly behind him and have tons of support from DC. He’s much better situated to beat Riki than Klink ever could have been. And – Klink just sucked as a candidate.
He’s also more liberal on many issues than he’s being painted; though he is clearly not pro-choice – he does support family planning. He doesn’t support marriage equality – but does oppose the Federal Marriage amendment.
In the area of employment non-discrimination – he’s been further out front than other statewide leaders. He issued an employment non-discrimination policy for his arm of government in 2001 that included both sexual orientation and gender identity – in that he was far in advance of Barney Frank, Ted Kennedy, MA, NY, NYC, Boston, Philadelphia, HRC, New Hope, Provincetown, Rehoboth, Northampton & many others we could name.
Others being discussed who are still in the race – just don’t stand a chance of winning. And it’s unlikely someone else will enter the race now. So – between Little Riki & Casey – well – that’s an easy choice.
Kathy
Philadelphia
The Casey = Klink analogy is pretty bogus. Klink was an unknown with no statewide name recognition and no support or funding from DC who got 47% against little Riki last time out. Casey won a statewide race with the largest margin ever in the history of the state, has his own organization, will have Rendell strongly behind him and have tons of support from DC. He’s much better situated to beat Riki than Klink ever could have been. And – Klink just sucked as a candidate.
He’s also more liberal on many issues than he’s being painted; though he is clearly not pro-choice – he does support family planning. He doesn’t support marriage equality – but does oppose the Federal Marriage amendment.
In the area of employment non-discrimination – he’s been further out front than other statewide leaders. He issued an employment non-discrimination policy for his arm of government in 2001 that included both sexual orientation and gender identity – in that he was far in advance of Barney Frank, Ted Kennedy, MA, NY, NYC, Boston, Philadelphia, HRC, New Hope, Provincetown, Rehoboth, Northampton & many others we could name.
Others being discussed who are still in the race – just don’t stand a chance of winning. And it’s unlikely someone else will enter the race now. So – between Little Riki & Casey – well – that’s an easy choice.
Kathy
Philadelphia
It's not fair to call Casey Jr. a "fake Rebublican" because he is pro-life. His father, a two-term Governor of PA held the same views, probably influenced by his faith and Jesuit education. The democrats, to their shame, disregarded Casey and disrespected him at the 92 convention, mostly because of one issue.
Casey, Sr. was a one-note wanker: abortion, abortion, abortion, abortion. He and his wife had 8 kids, so other women should not have any choices.
He needed to leave that RC bullshit at the door!
He was a member of that Opus Dei screwball group, for Chrissakes
The party did NOT "disrespect" him in 1992. HE disrespected the party. He wanted to get up there and spout all that anti-choice bullshit, which would piss women to no end.
He was not permitted to speak because he would not endorse the Clinton-Gore...again because of his stupid bullshit beliefs that he wanted to force on the rest of the country.
And, no, I was NOT sorry when he bought the farm. The man was a disaster.
I
Penacchio won't win no matter how much you like him.
He's an Eastern PA guy. The Keystone has an informal tradition of splitting its Senate seats so that one is always filled by a Stillers fan, and the other by an Iggles fan. Santorum's tendency to live in VA (his native state) will matter a lot less out where they drink Iron City beer than Pennachio's being from east of the Susquehanna.
It's part of how Santorum got elected in the first place — Wofford was all Bryn Mawr, which made for one of the brief periods in PA history when both Senators were from cheesesteak country.
Casey and Hafer are both western PA people, and have a leg up Pennacchio never will.
And really, do we want to nominate a candidate whose name is just begging to be ridiculed in 30-second ads?
Do we really want to nominate a candidate who doesn't support a woman's right to control her own body?
And even if you forget principles and just concentrate on who's going to get elected, Casey won't steal any of the Bible-thumper vote from Santorum. And he won't get much enthusiasm from Democrats, particularly not the pro-choice community, which usually works like hell for Dem candidates. I'm a PA resident and I won't be working for Casey if he gets the nomination. I might not vote for him either. And I know I'm not the only one. The Dems can't kick women in the teeth and then expect us to support their candidate.
"Would the Rethugs ever allow someone to speak at their convention who didn't endorse the ticket?"
Did Pat Buchanan endorse the ticket the year he gave the insane culture wars rave?
As for Casey, isn't the point of primaries to see who has support? This trend of trying to push people out of primaries is just more of the corporatization of politics. The range of options we as voters can choose from is being artificially narrowed by party leaders and allied pollsters (who add a 4th variety of untruth to "lies, damn lies and statistics"). It's bad enough when this applies to my choice of a cable TV operator, when it comes to my choice of a Senator I start to find myself understanding the perspective of my crazy gun-nut libertarian friend.
It doesn't matter if Casey is the right guy right now. What matters is that someone on our side get out front and start kicking the shit out of Santorum on Social Security. Beat on him now, and for the next two years, relentlessly, forcing him to defend himself.
Why?
Two reasons:
1) It softens Santorum up, and draws resources away from other far-right races.
2) It serves notice to all the other assholes in the Republican Party that they better get away from Social Security pronto.
If Dems wait until late 2006 to try to make the crazies pay for their un-American pseudo-Christian craziness, we'll never win. There's a price to be paid now for supporting phase-out, and Dems need to make sure the far-right pays.
I might not vote for him either.
But why is that? What do you lose by replacing Santorum with Casey? You gain so much while losing nothing on women's rights. It is not great but better. Plus, Casey forever knows that he must keep pro-choice voters in mind or he is done.
"Would the Rethugs ever allow someone to speak at their convention who didn't endorse the ticket?"
Did Pat Buchanan endorse the ticket the year he gave the insane culture wars rave?
Zealot,
That was the same year: '92. Buchanan did endorse the ticket.
I wou'ldn't mind seeing the Democrats avoiding useless internecine bloodletting, but I do agree that this business of trying to forbid this candidate or that to run in the primaries is BS, same as it is with the '08 Presidential primaries.
It's part of how Santorum got elected in the first place — Wofford was all Bryn Mawr, which made for one of the brief periods in PA history when both Senators were from cheesesteak country.
Yes, Santorum struck me as an empty suit in '94, sl I was shocked when he beat Wofford. Of course, he was also a Newt clone as a Congressman.
And really, do we want to nominate a candidate whose name is just begging to be ridiculed in 30-second ads?
Indeed.
.
Penacchio won't win no matter how much you like him.
He's an Eastern PA guy.
Sullywatch, yeah that's what they said about Rendell, who was: 1) from Eastern PA, 2) from Philadelphia (even worse) and 3) DID NOT HAVE THE SUPPORT OF THE PA DEMOCRATIC PARTY.
But he won.
Primaries cost money, sure, but they also make reporters print what the candidates are saying. That's publicity, Democratic Party of Pennsylvania, publicity day after day for many many days.
I had to get off one board on this site.
Trolls galore over there.
One classy party keeps calling me a "cunt."
Aren't the Bushtards wonderful people? Right wingers hate women SO much it's pathetic.
"Sullywatch, yeah that's what they said about Rendell, who was: 1) from Eastern PA, 2) from Philadelphia (even worse) and 3) DID NOT HAVE THE SUPPORT OF THE PA DEMOCRATIC PARTY.
But he won.
I was shocked that a JEW would win....those good ole boys in the middle of the state, you know.
The folks who think gun racks are a necessity but teeth are a luxury........Mississippi North.
Aren't the Bushtards wonderful people? Right wingers hate women SO much it's pathetic.
Terry C
Well, maybe not the ones who fit into their narrow little gender stereotypes.
What classy people! [/sarcasm]
If Casey beats Spector, he will be another Zell Miller in a year.
The guy is a budding Bush buddy. That is why he is going along with this deal to bury Pennachio.
He will be getting big kisses from Bush, just like Lieberman.
If I remember Klinks campaign correctly, he pretty much wrote off the SE part of the state(where a Democrat would be expected to do the best).
I wouldn't say he was fairly bad. He was awful.
Frist/Santorum 2008
It Just Fits!
There's strong merit in having the Pa. Democratic Party get behind a candidate so as to negate a primary race. Why, 1)in a primary, your opponent will attack you, thus driving up your negatives & seriously weakening your image as you gear up for the general election & 2) because you need a lot of money to win in a big, diverse state like Pa. & after dissipating your campaign funds in a grueling primary, you will be inundated with a TV smear campaign by Santorum, which will define you & you will lose.
I'm uneasy about Casey, since I'm pro-choice, but will strongly support him in a race against Santorum. I actively worked for Hoeffel (a true progressive) in the last election, gave him money 3 times (would have given him another $100 but realized at that point he was not running a good race & would lose), organized a meet & greet event for him. On all issues, except abortion, Casey is a liberal Democrat.
This is all pretty funny. Rendell pressures Hafer to drop out of the race, and you all are complaining about the smoke filled room that has put a right wing dem on the ticket. Except that Casey is a practical leftist compared to most dems in the senate except on abortion, and the purported true liberal that Rendell squeezed out was a republican until 2003. Hafer, who was a republican just two years ago, would have worried me as someone who might back Bush on tax cuts, social security, environmental degredation, etc.
And you still got Pinnochio running -- if he's such a great candidate, he'll win the primary. I don't see it, but heck, anything can happen.
Frist/Santorum 2008
It Just Fits!
Ray
Considering our definition of what "Santorum" is, this is pretty funny. Not sure if that was intentional, but if so - well done.
-
Casey is strong on the safety net, helping workers, using govt. regulation, tilting govt. programs toward the middle, poor & working class. In many ways, he's like Klink (last candidate to run against Santorum & ran a close race): both not from the Philly region, both anti-abortion, both economic liberals.
I thought Klink was a strong, media savy candidate who, because of his anti-abortion stand (he promised women groups to be pretty passive on the issue if elected), did not get the organizational or financial support in the Philly suburbs & thus lost.
Although I spend a good part of the year in Philly, my state residence is in the area north of Scranton. Casey ran for the congressional seat against Sherwood & lost. Though I think Casey's anti-abortion stance will help him with Catholic/blue collar/progressive on economic issue types, his loss did not create an image of a great campaigner.
Regarding those that argue the fix is in by the Democratic Party, little reminder -- there is no Pennsylvania Democratic Party. The party disintegrated a couple of decades ago. There's a strong organization in the Pittsburgh area that does not get along with the strong Philly organization. In between, its a small number of people, who do nothing but sit around all day & fart. Rendall is trying to rebuild the Democratic Party from the ground up. He handpicked Hoeffel, a true progressive, to run against Specter & now is picking Casey to run against Santorum.
Note to progressives: If you get in on the ground floor & win the local offices, you will be the Democratic Party of Pa. Same is true in Ohio.
Sully, Casey is not from Western PA. he is from Scranton, which, if one opens an atlas, one would see is most definitely Iggles fan territory.
Why in the world would you not vote??? I am staunchly pro-choice, but there is a difference between being personally pro-life and legislatively pro-life.
Casey cannot be worse than Santorum and not voting would be giving the seat to him. His chances for a presidential run will lessen considerably if he is voted out a a senator.
We MUST start picking off these fascists one at a time, so even if Casey would not be your first choice, you should still vote. Otherwise, we might as well just give up and give the country to the neo-cons for good.
And, BTW, at a meeting the other night, one of Hoeffel's campaign people for Allegheny Cty said that Joe would run if Casey was not, but if he does, he will bow out and actively support Casey.
Bob Casey Jr. did not lose to Sherwood, that was his brother Pat-I worked on his campaign, up N. of Scranton.
I think Atrios is missing the boat on this one. Casey got more votes than any other person in the history of PA elections, he obviously can inspire voters. With Rendell at the top of the ticket, those Philly burbs people will be voting. Also, back in 2000, there was a decent sized "Republicans against Santorum" crowd-mostly inspired by farmers who were against Santorum for some reason. He's not some sort of folk hero up there. Santorum is even more disliked b/c he doesn't even live in Pennsylvania-Dems can use the same strategy the GOP used against Daschle in SD.
NEVER EVER compare Casey to Klink. Klink was an awful candidate, and couldn't raise money in Philly. Casey can, and will.
I worked hard for Rendell in '02. Sice then, I've learnes a lot more about Casey, and he's a decent populist Democrat in the upstate Pa tradition. He is not his father. He campaigned hard in '04 for a bunch of democrats, including Senator (PA) Kukovich who is about as liberal as they come.
Casey will not be another Zell Miller - more like a Reid.
I'm not anti-casey, I'm anti-annointing casey.
Enrique, you're an idiot. Comparing Casey Jr. to Zell Miller? A "budding Bush buddy"? Get a clue.
Atrios writes:
"I think it's a big mistake for the Democrats to try to clear the field for Casey to run against Specter."
Um, I think, assuming he wins the primary, that he'd be running against Santorum.
That said, though I despise Ricky, I will happily vote for him in the general election if the alternative is that SOB Casey.
-- mort
Atrios, with Rendell running, too, Democratic turnout will be huge in Philly and around the suburbs. We Bucks countians just love Rendell. Casey's rep also far exceeds Santorum. Also, this will draw in so much money from the moonbat right that it lets some democratic sleepers grab some seats elsewhere -- who else likes the open seat in Tennessee?
brian r: I stand corrected on the Casey brothers in the Sherwood race. I didn't look closely at the first name. However, we disagree regarding Klink & Casey's appeal in the Philly burgs.
I wasn't hot about Klink because I'm pro-choice but analyzing his race, I saw a media savy candidate (which, for example, Hoeffel wasn't). Part of the reason was that Klink began his career as a TV personality before winning his congressional seat.
Problem for Klink, he couldn't raise any money & didn't any strong organizational support in the Philly region. Most of the money, within Pa., comes from the Philly region, particularly the burgs. Despite this handicapp, he almost beat Ricki.
I suspect Casey will have some of these same problems in his race, although the sharpening of political edges in American politics may contribute to greater support for Casey in the Philly burgs. I hope this happens but we'll see.
Where do you reside?
Joe Hoeffel did bow out of the race yesterday as well, fyi. I would expect him to play an active role in introducing Casey to progressives in SE PA and working with him on speaking about our concerns in a way that's true to him but more reassuring to us.
I wanted a contested primary, but I was concerned about Casey's ability to fundraise after having (presumably) alienated all the pro-choicers in the state through the process. Having Chuck P. nipping at his heels and keeping him honest might be the best of both worlds.
I worked up in Susquehanna County-lived near Elk Mountain. I was a field coordinator on the Pat Casey for Congress in 2000. Where are you located?
I don't think Casey Jr. will have much problem raising money, due to the fact that it'll be a national race, with GOPers giving major money to Santorum, and Dems to Casey. It's really early, but I'm very confident.
I spent a good portion of today at the campaign offices of a progressive running for mayor of Pittsburgh. I will say that the women there -- including myself -- were all extremely pissed about Rendell knocking out Hafer. These were the same women who worked their butts off (both paid and unpaid) for the Democrats in the 2004 election.
I believe that the Dems are shooting themselves in foot by anointing an anti-choice candidate.
The folks in Pennsyltucky will vote for Santorum no matter what and the Dems have, incredibly enough, managed to turn rabid anti-Santorum sentiment into anti-Democratic Party sentiment.
Great job, Rendell!
brian r: I'm in Susquehanna County as well, near New Milford. The problem that Klink begot was that Philly suburban women, who are ardently pro-choice, would not contribute to his campaign. As the burgs of Philly are the richest part of the state, Klink had very little campaign funding.
Though the senate race will be a national one, the Democratic Party will expect Casey to do most of the heavy lifting in campaign funding. The national party is not exactly rolling in money. This was part of the reason for the loss of Hoeffel, in the stretch he ran out of money to counter Specter TV ads.
It was an interesting 4 months for me up in Susqy Co. I'm originally from Southern NJ (now in DC). A bit of a culture shock up there, but the people were very nice. More right wingers than I could deal with though. My HQ was in Susquehanna up by the Binghamton border. You probably got a phone call from me asking if you were "familiar with Pat Casey, who's running for Congress". (Most common response: "Pataki? I love that guy!")
Klink was pretty bad all around. B/c of his news background, you'd think he'd be a better candidate-tv wise. He really didn't even put any ads on the Philly market. At this point, the Penn race is THE premier race-Casey will be able to raise some money.
And this is why people who know nothing about a state's politics shouldn't comment. I'm a 'true believing conservative resident of Pennsylvania', and as of right now Santorum does NOT have my vote. Santorum has a HUGE problem with conservatives in PA as a result of his support of Specter over Toomey in the last primary, his support of increasing the minimum wage, and the way he talks about raising taxes to support Social Security reform. Anyone paying even a modest amount of attention to PA politics knows this.
Every analysis that I've seen is that Casey will trounce Santorum. Santorum's most ardent supporters have always been the pro-life crowd. Given Rick's support of pro-abortion Arlen Specter, and Casey's pro-life stance, many, many conservatives will stay home unless Rick does something miraculous by then.
PennConservative-you're right on, and pennsylvania's politics is so bizarre compared to other States. It's not a clear cut Dem vs. GOP. It's Conserviative Dem/Liberal Dem vs. Liberal GOP/Conservative GOP. Every candidate seems to have some appeal to everyone.
He was running for governor, not Senator. PA has two of the latter and one of the former. It has had plenty of govs from the east. But it usually splits its Senators, and right now Specter has the Eastern PA seat. That's why Hoeffel ran against him but won't run against Santorum.
Sully, Casey is not from Western PA. he is from Scranton, which, if one opens an atlas, one would see is most definitely Iggles fan territory.
Apologies. Although, as far as most people in Philly seem to care, it might as well be out in Erie County.
I think this is a case of Rendell thinking that Casey shows the Dems as sensitive to "prolife" Democrats and may swing some moderate "prolife" Republicans to vote for a Democrat. I think there's a high likelihood that this will actually inspire the right wing fringe to bring out a bigger vote for popewannabe Santorum instead of dividing the "prolife" vote.
I just hope Pennacchio can finally get some press (sad when even the local media announced it's an uncontested primary on Friday).
Characters Remaining:
Commenting by HaloScan
