On "The Big Talker" Philly's right wing radio show, with a daily lineup of Micheal Smerconish, Glen Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Dom Giordano ... a Republican campaign consultant said that with Casey running against Santorum, the republicans will retain the republican women who crossed over to vote for Kerry and Rendell because of their support of Women's rights. Casey loses those votes.
Kerry and Rendell had the support of activists. Casey may get their votes but not their canvassing and phone banking, not their grassroots work.
Casey had a 17 point lead a month before the gubernatorial election. Casey's big two point lead in this race has already begun to collapse down to 8 percent. My OpEdNews/Zogby People's Poll, the first to look at all the declared contenders (shame on the other pollsters) and the first to ask how people would vote AFTER finding out the candidates positions, showed that Casey's lead collapsed and Pennacchio pulled ahead of Casey, drawing a larger percentage of voters than Casey against Santorum.
Do you have any doubt that by November, voters will know where Casey stands, that he's a republican lite, that he supported Alito, that he opposes and would ban the prime women's right-- abortion.
My poll found that Casey's support among African Americans fell 50% when they found his issue positions. Casey will not only lose against Santorum, he will bring down Rendell with him. Philly blacks will stay home and let Swann win.
I am convinced that a Pennacchio win will blow a lot of minds, piss of some folks, like Chuck Schumer and Harry Reid, but that the DSCC will have no choice but get behind him-- if Chuck lets them. I think the grassroots base across the US will be so thrilled to see a real progressive, a real leader who refused to take PAC money win that they will flock to hiim in droves. He will become THE HERO for Democrats. He will be the man who will raise the rallying cry for cleaning out Republican corruption, because he's the cleanest candidate going.
Oh, I know that the same old Casey floggers will talk about the pathetic, flawed polls that had Chuck at 2%. So how come Casey can't win a single poll here on Dkos. Chuck doesn't get 2% here. He kicks Casey's limp, boring ass. I'm sure Casey's a nice guy, even though he's ready to wipe out women's' rights.
Some Pennacchio supporters say they won't support Casey. I'm not yet sure what I'll do. The issue, for me, is the message a Casey win will deliver for DLC republican lites. They will claim that the way for Democrats to win is to betray the women who make up the majority of the Democratic party by supporting more anti-abortion candidates.
I know that being anti-abortion, for most pro-lifers, is just the first step in taking away the right to access to contraceptives. That may not be Casey's position, but Casey would help this extremist position by his actions. if Casey wins, then women lose, and the gains they made over the last three or four decades may be lost.
I am supporting Pennacchio because I want to work hard this fall supporting a candidate who I believe will be a GREAT senator, not an anybody-but-Santorum candidate who will be owned by the PACs and politicians who bought and paid for his campaign. I want a leader who will go to congress ready to make a difference, ready to hit the ground running with vision combined with practical wisdom and street smarts.
We have enough Joe Liebermans. Casey promises to be another senator cut in the mold of Lieberman, Biden and Feinstein. I don't think that's what the people of PA want.
I think Casey is the ideal candidate Santorum wants to run against. He'll out anti-abortion and pro-alito him. They're already running attack ads on his being an absentee treasurer. Pennacchio knows how to neutralize the swiftboaters who will attack him as a liberal. Casey has shown he is unwilling and unable to stand out as a highly visible candidate, facing the public. He's avoided doing debates in the major areas where Democrats cast the deciding votes. He will not be able to stand up to Santorum. Tomorrow, there's the second and possibly last debate, two hours from Philly, where the biggest block of Democrats in the state live. Watch the debate, if you can. it's shameful that Casey has refused to debate in major Democratic areas. It's either cowardly, or smart, because a debate in Philly, where people will see who is, will end his campaign. Either way, it is not a sign of a strong candidate who is confident in who he is and what he stands for.
One minor note. Alan Sandals, the other "progressive" running in the race is using a decidedly Republican negative tactic against Pennacchio, one that has been used predictably by the right wing. He said, in the last debate, that "Pennacchio made a lot of "wild charges" in the campaign. This is routine right wing M.O in attacking Democrats. Call them wild, emotional, angry, crazy...