AROUND THE INTERNETS
Senate candidate Chuck Pennacchio (or as I call him Chuck P.) will be on Air America today at around 10:30 am. He'll be interviewed by Chuck D coincidently enough. I thought that Atrios had the best analysis as to why you might want a pro choice candidate running for the US Senate in Pennsylvania.
"The 4 suburban philadelphia counties are critical in PA politics - Bucks, Chester, Montgomery, Delaware. In these counties, Gore won 51-46.
Santorum got 565083 votes in these counties. Klink got 419439. Leaving off the small party votes because I'm too lazy, that makes it about a 57-43 race for Santorum in these counties.
Basically these counties have a lot of middle of the road pro-choice voters. And, in an midterm election you're going to be asking them to hold their noses and actually go vote for an anti-choice candidate.
If Casey can't win and inspire large turnout in these counties he really can't win the election. A contested primary would give him the opportunity to figure out how to appeal to these voters.
Every true believing conservative resident of Pennsyltucky will get out and vote for Santorum. Can Casey inspire voters?
Generally, I think the uncontested primary idea is a really bad one for Democrats, though they still cling to it. So, I'm glad that Pennacchio at least is still in the race, even though the press is trying to pretend he doesn't exist."
I would actually go a little further. If anything, the choice issue is more important now than it was in 2000. There's actually a very good chance that abortion will be outlawed in certain states. We're just a few Supreme Court justices away from that. Furthermore, the agenda of the completely insane religious right, isn't to stop at abortion but contraceptive and stem cell research. Actually, if you listen to them carefully, the Catholic hierarchy has come to the conclusion that health and wealth dampens the need to "find the spirit". That makes sense. You give me someone who's poor, scared and desperate and without the EU's social safety net and I'll give you somebody who needs Christ, or at least needs the welfare money being pushed through American Churches. Or as Saint Bertrand Russell has said: "Fear is the parent of cruelty, and therefore it is no wonder if cruelty and religion have gone hand in hand."
I want someone in the US Senate who won't compromise on these issues in the Senate, especially the choice issue. I don't need another senator who's afflicted with a terminal case of "Joementum", especially when I need someone to strengthen my forty (until they outlaw that of course) or at the very least offer an opposition party "contrast".
