In their
first meeting, Chuck from Bucks, the scrappy challenger, came out swinging. His well-aimed punches, lightning-fast jabs,
and powerful counters quickly won over the crowd who came to cheer on his opponent but left with fistfuls of the challenger's handouts.
The taller fighter, Junior the C, wasted his reach advantage by lulling the fans into near-unconsciousness with his studied rope-a-dope strategy.
Tonight, Wednesday, April 19, at 7:00, the Pennsylvania Democratic Senate contenders meet for their sixth debate (but only the second with all three primary candidates). Dr. Chuck Pennacchio, State Treasure Bob Casey, Jr., and Attorney Alan Sandals, meet at Franklin & Marshall University in Lancaster, Pa., for their debate televised live on these PCN-TV affiliates across Pennsylvania and on-line at PCN's website.
It's no secret that Casey's challengers are depending on these debates to help their campaigns garner the media attention which they believe that they deserve.
But what the first debate demonstrated is that Sandals and Pennacchio -- and the voters of the state -- deserve more from Casey.
Pennacchio and Sandals came armed with substantive ideas. They presented voters with a real choice -- candidates who had well-articulated principles and policies, who stood for something.
What Casey delivered in that first debate was largely platitude, vagueness, and avoidance. One wag noted that you could count Casey's specific policy statements on the fingers of one hand, and still have enough left over to measure a three-fingered shot (which, some said, came in handy when Casey was speaking).
Some were left frustrated that Casey's campaign talking points seem to be (1) you know my name and (2) it is not Santorum. This strategy probably made sense in the green room, but it played out rather poorly on the stage.
That debate, in somewhat removed Slippery Rock, was in what James Carville (in)famously dubbed the swath of "alabama" between the two large cities of Pennsylvania. Attendees reported that the crowd was mostly local, and, to most pundits, natural Casey constituents.
While Casey received the warmest welcoming applause, the audience quickly turned towards Chuck. They clearly appreciated his determined, articulate and passionate support for the traditional Democratic values which they, as main-street Democrats, shared.
There has been general agreement that Casey's was the worst performance of the three contenders.
Tonight, will Casey come to fight or will he come to rope-a-dope? Pennacchio (who I support) and Sandals will certainly show up ready to rumble.
THE MORNING AFTER THE DEBATE . . . .
UPDATE
Junior Casey was knocked to the mat repeatedly. He told the huge crowd gathered at the F&M gym that: (1) He is happy to take lobbyist donations to his campaign, (2) He supports the President's decisions to keep a preemptive nuclear strike on Iran on the table, (3) He is opposed to rolling back the tax cuts on the top 2% of tax-payers, (4) He opposes repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act, and (5) He's not Rick Santorum.
What a guy! What a Democrat! It's little wonder why Santorum is hoping that Casey wins the primary.
Dr. Chuck Pennacchio told us that (1) He refuses all PAC, special interest, and lobbyist money, (2) He thinks threatening nuclear strikes on rouge nations is "insane", (3) He wants to roll back the tax cuts on the top 2% AND return to a progressive tax structure with the top marginal rate on that 2% of 50%, pointing out that since 1980 the top 10% of the wealthy have increased the amount of our wealth which they control from 50% to 75%, (4) He opposes any form of discrimination against gays and gay couples, including the defense of marriage act, and that, unlike Casey, he hasn't flip-flopped over the course of the campaign, and (5) Bob Casey takes PAC money from HUNDREDS of the same corporate, military industrial, and pharmaceutical PACs as Rick Santorum.
WHAT A GUY!!!! WHAT A DEMOCRAT!!! Little wonder why polls show Chuck with a better shot at taking down Sanotum than Casey.
(Oh, and Sandals showed up, too.)