Chuck Pennacchio has long odds, but here in Bucks county, THE lynchpin county for winning PA, Chuck is coming on strong. People who were saying he didn't have a chance last month are turning into strong supporters.
Why? Chuck is coming on like a dynamo as a speaker. He energizes the room like no-one I've seen, certainly much more powerfully than John Kerry, even more powerful than Howard Dean.
But his charisma and an awesome ability to touch people's hearts and passions, and his uncanny likeness to John Kennedy Jr. are just the beginning. Chuck Pennacchio is the real deal. His positions are well laid out and consistent. He's no liberal extremist. He's a pragmatic progressive who supports fairness, justice, maintenance of the constitution, maintenance of the freedoms we currently possess as well as serious fixes to our health care system.
When he talks to a house party, something strange happens. People realize that he is talking their beliefs, not the evasive double-talk of republican-lite DLC centrists. Chuck sounds like Paul Wellstone, like the people who teach the Wellstone Model... and people are just about brought to tears, because he is actually standing there and running for US senate-- apparently, the only progressive in the country shooting for a senate seat.
People say the odds are immense. The same was true for Wellstone.
People say he'll never raise the money to go against Santorum. His problem is raising money to go against Casey. Once he wins the primary, the Democratic party will have to come through with big bucks. Santorum, if he wins, is on the short list for 2008 republican presidential primary.
Not only will the democratic party help, but money will pour in from all over the country. Santorum is despised nationwide.
If you are a progressive, if you are a Democrat who is sick of weak candidates chosen by jaded insiders who have lost their souls to power, then you owe it to yourself to support Chuck Pennacchio. Pennacchio is not just a progressive good guy. He is a visionary leader who will join the senate with a real spine, a real inner compass that will immediately make him a leader who will give voice to the truth.
On the other hand, if the centrist power-brokers succeed in annointing Bob Casey, bypassing the primary election process, they will set a precedent that will weaken and possibly destroy the soul and spirit of the democratic party. Already, too many people say there's no difference between republicans and democrats, and they might as well vote for the real thing instead of republican-lite. By the way, these power brokers have failed to elect a democrat senator in a regular senate election in the last 42 years. Why trust their judgment now?
A Pennacchio will turn the tide and further speed the demise of the DLC and the centrist democrats who have been selling out the party for corporate favors and future jobs as corporate lobbyists.
Yes, it's true that Pennacchio has an uphill battle. But if you get behind him, and send him some money now, and talk to ten people and start working on convincing them, then you and I and the thousands who have already committed to support Chuck will make it happen. And then, we'll have a strong, courageous voice in the senate.
Chuck will cream Santorum. Pennsylvania swings with the votes of the major urban centers--Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and their suburbs. Pennacchio's tough principles will resonate with sophisticated urban republican and independent women who and will balance the anti-abortion religious vote of the northern and central part of the state.
Santorum is an embarrassment. Casey will be disappointment, like Zell Miller and Joe Lieberman. We don't need another one of them.
If I'm wrong, and Pennacchio doesn't take the primary, you can always support Casey. But in the primary, how can any self-respecting progressive even consider supporting Casey when there's an opportunity to vote for the real deal?
Rob Kall rob@opednews.com lives in Bucks County, PA, runs a small business and publishes the news/opinion site www.OpEdNews.com