I guess you could say it's better late than never, but, whatever it is, today I finally decided that, at least in the Pennsylvania Democratic primary in less than two weeks, I just could not support Bob Casey.
At the same time, I decided I would do what I could to support Chuck Pennacchio.
Today I threw Chuck Pennacchio some money and signed up to volunteer for whatever campaign activities I might be able to help out with given my pretty hectic life schedule. Hopefully that will help him win the primary and put us a step closer to giving the citizens of Pennsylvania a real representative in Washington.
Pennacchio is a true progressive. He is forgoing PAC money and corporate money. He supports a living wage, sees the folly of the Iraq war, understands that interfering in people's personal lives is not the government's business, and will be a force for change in the U.S. Senate.
Maybe it's a foregone conclusion. Maybe Casey has too much money, too much name recognition, too much momentum. I know the latest polls indicate he may be slipping, but that may be more apparent than real. And I have seen or heard little in the way of ads supporting Pennacchio's run, so who knows if there is enough recognition there to make a blip.
But I can't in good conscience support Casey, at least not in the primary.
What I hate about this whole thing - and as many others on this site have noted - is how Casey got to this point. He was anointed by the folks inside the beltway, just because he had the name recognition to possibly beat Santorum, not because of what he stood for.
How is that any different than what the Republican establishment did with our current King? Dumbya was handpicked because of his name and that he was so devoid of character that he could be molded into the perfect presidential candidate with an R after his name.
And how has Casey responded to this annointment? By taking for granted that Democrats hatred of Santorum would be enough to make them vote for him, no matter his stand on many of the most important progressive issues. Truly, I don't mind if he's pro-life. I may not agree with it, but I can respect it.
But his statement that he would not have supported Feingold's censure resolution, thought it was okay to intervene in the Schiavo situation, and many others. It's just too much. In this primary at least, I can't respect that and I can't support it.
And to those who say Pennacchio is too progressive for many Pennsylvania voters, I now disagree. I've seen nothing but support for what Murtha has said and done in the past year, which leads me to believe that many people's priorities are changing, for the better. While Chuck won't get the evangelical vote, who cares? Neither will Casey. Slick Ricky's got them in his pocket. Or, rather, he is in theirs. He's their bitch.
In any case, Chuck, you've got my support, and over the next two weeks, I'll do what little I can to help you win the primary.