Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Robert P. Casey Jr. announced on Tuesday he supports the nomination of Samuel Alito to the U.S. Supreme Court. The news is consistent with Casey's previous support for Chief Justice John Roberts' nomination. The Allentown Morning Call reports this development here:
http://www.mcall.com/....
Casey announced in December that he supports overturning Roe v. Wade so these positions are at least consistent with his beliefs. That announcement came at the annual Pennsylvania Dinner in New York.
More after the fold.
Even John Aravosis at Americablog is wondering about Casey's credentials as a Democrat. This what John says about this development:
Unfortunately, our best chance for throwing out Rick Santorum in the next election is Bob Casey, a "Democrat" who's just this side of Joe Lieberman.
Gee, wait until John discovers that Casey also supports the Federal Defense of Marriage Act! Here's Casey's stand on that issue as reported by the Philadelphia Daily News:
Defense of marriage amendment (which would ban same-sex marriage). "I support the Defense of Marriage Act [passed in 1996, it defines marriage as a union of a man and woman] and a number of states have passed similar measures. But to have a great constitutional debate about this issue is completely unnecessary. This is used to divide people and appeal to bigotry."
Here's the link for the entire interview:
http://www.philly.com/...
If you're interested in Casey's views on the Terri Schiavo controversy and embryonic stem cell research I heartedly recommend listening to the first interview Casey chose to give as an announced candidate for the Senate:
http://www.newsmakersgroup.com/...
As you can see from all the evidence, Bob Casey is not a good choice to be a Democratic Senator from Pennsylvania. Thankfully there is a choice this year. Chuck Pennacchio has steadfastly opposed both John Roberts and Samuel Alito. He supports a woman's right to choose, embryonic stem cell research, equal rights for all Americans, universal health care, and thinks it's time to leave Iraq.
Pennacchio also steadfastly refuses to accept campaign contributions from political action committees. He turned down much support rather than be labled a hypocrite for accepting such while also strongly advocating campaign finance reform. Chuck has been a proponent for serious reforms long before the Jack Abramoff and Duke Cunningham scandals broke. While this has limited his fund raising in comparison to Casey, if you look at Casey and Santorum's FEC reports you'll see them getting contributions from many of the same PAC's.
What is the difference between Casey and Santorum? With Rick Santorum continuously shooting himself in his foot, his drastically eroded support in Pennsylvania, and his support for George W. Bush hanging around his neck like an albatross, Democrats are going to win this seat this year. Do we want another DINO whose only attribute will be voting with the Democrats to organize the Senate and then overturn Roe v. Wade or do we want someone who will fight for our rights?
Visit Chuck's website for his positions on these issues. http://www.chuck2006.com
Point of disclosure: I worked as Chuck's Interim Campaign Coordinator in 2005.