Electing the Next Paul Wellstone; Progressive Candidate Chuck Pennacchio Wants to Run Against Rick Santorum in the 2006 PA Senate Race, and he needs your help. This article tells you why this campaign has national significance.
by Rob Kall
www.OpEdNews.com I’m volunteering on the PA US senate campaign of Chuck Pennacchio (
www.chuck2006.com ). He’s a genuine progressive who wants to run against Rick Santorum in 2006.
Chuck is a superb, dynamic charismatic speaker who walks the walk and talks the talk. TO my knowledge, he's the only progressive running for a senate seat in any 2006 election. And it doesn't hurt that he looks like a craggy John Kennedy Jr.
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.
The problem is, the centrist insider democratic power brokers have already coronated their senate pick and want to do an end run around the democratic process—the primary election. Their pick is Bob Casey, anti-aborition, anti-women’s rights son of a former governor. They argue that his antiabortion position makes him more electable.
If they win this primary, it will set a precedent that will make it much, MUCH harder for progressives to get on the ballot. This fact alone makes this state election a national concern and issue. If Casey wins the primary and then beats Santorum, the DLC and the rest of the centrist, republican-lites in disguise as democrats will use the victory as an argument to further remove the spine from the democratic party as they push it further towards the center, so it looks even more like the republican party.
People Chuck will never raise the money to go against Santorum. His problem is not raising funds to go against Santorum. This race will be the most closely watched race of the 2006 election year, nationwide. Chucks 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.
The truth is that whoever wins the primary has a great shot at winning the election and the centrist argument will not really be proven. The PA senate election is very winnable. Santorum is despised by the majority of the populace in the main metropolitan areas. He’s an embarrassment to the state and the subject of derision. But his obnoxiousness is so severe that he has developed a national contingent of people who hold him in contempt and who would like to get rid of him, especially since it is clear that he’s on the short list to run for president in 2008. It was no accident that when Bush was inaugurated into his second term, Santorum’s face was clearly visible directly behind Bush.
Chuck Pennacchio will be an incredible plus as a member of the senate, and could very well be the next Paul Wellstone. He’s a great leader and I am certain, that as a senator, he will be a strong voice for progressive perspectives, and that he will hold centrist democrats' feet to the fire when they consider siding with republicans on issues like judge selections, bankruptcy, health care, media regulation, etc..
If you volunteered to help John Kerry, Howard Dean, Carol Mosely Braun or Dennis Kucinich I hope you'll consider becoming an active supporter of Chuck Pennacchio. Chuck’s race is a longshot, but he has a track record of playing David against Goliath and overcoming major odds successfully.
We need to build a national base of support for Chuck—fundraising, phone banking, celebrity support… Be assured, though this is a Pennsylvania race, this is a race that has major national implications. If Chuck loses, you won't notice much of a difference in national politics, except it will be harder to get progressives on ballots. But if he wins, his voice in the senate and the precedent he sets, winning as a progressive will start the ball rolling so it will be easier for progressives to get on the ballot and win all over the country.
If you are a progressive, if you are a Democrat or an independent 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.
I’m asking you to get on board as a volunteer and help bring in more volunteers and campaign contributors. Sign up at
www.chuck2006.com and give some money. Now is a crucial time for funding.
