Bob Casey was Governor of Pennsylvania from 1987–1995. Casey is famous for three things.

1. He was elected after hiring the unknown team of James Carville and Paul Begala.
2. He refused to campaign for or endorse pro-choice candidates, including Bill Clinton (and therefore was not allowed to speak at the 1992 convention).
3. the legend of his name.

Back in the 1970’s Casey had been term-limited out of another run for Auditor General. The Dems ran another man named Bob Casey, and the voters elected him without realizing it was a different person. Then another man named Bob Casey ran for lieutenant governor and was elected, despite spending almost no money or doing much campaigning. When Bob Casey ran for governor in the 80’s, he ran as the real Bob Casey.

And this legend of Pennsylvanians voting for anyone named Bob Casey probably explains why Senator Chuck Schumer decided to recruit Bob Casey Jr., the former governor’s son, to run against Sen. ‘Man-on-Dog’ Santorum.
Schumer called up Governor Rendell and asked him who the best candidate would be to beat Rick Santorum. Rendell reportedly said, “Bob Casey, but he won’t run, and you don’t want him to run.” Schumer explained what happened next:

I said why wouldn’t we want him to run, he said he’s pro-life. He’s a deeply religious Catholic man. Bob Casey.”

“I said, those days are over Ed. Yes I’m pro-choice, but we need the best candidate. We can’t insist that every democrat check off 18 different issues before they get (unintelligible) we could do that, we can’t anymore. And so, we persuaded, Harry (Reid) using his very…Harry has amazing insights into people…and we together persuaded Bob Casey to run.

They persuaded Casey to run by assuring him that he would not face any competition in the primary. To that end they pressured the pro-choice Barbara Hafer to get out of the race.

At the time that Rendell, Reid and Schumer pulled their power move it looked like Santorum was a juggernaut. He is the third ranking member of the Senate and he can bring home the bacon and fry it up in a pan. Schumer probably felt it would be a long-shot to beat Santorum, and that informed his decision making. After all, Pennsylvanians can’t resist a man named Bob Casey. But today it looks like a mistake. To be sure, Casey is polling way ahead of Santorum. The latest poll has Casey up 52-34. But, that has little to do with Bob Casey. Santorum is the least popular Senator in the country. Forty-four percent of Pennsylvanians disapprove of the job Santorum is doing. In other words, Santorum is not a juggernaut, but a ripe fruit. It’s a perfect opportunity for a progressive Democrat to pick up a Senate seat in a swing state. Instead we are stuck with a anti-choice candidate.

Enter Chuck Pennacchio. Pennacchio entered the race in defiance of the kingmakers, and he is strongly pro-choice, and strongly progressive on the issues. But Chuck quickly discovered that Rendell’s reach and influence extend beyond bullying Barbara Hafer out of the race. Tim Tagaris explains:

When Bob Casey Jr. announced today, we decided that we needed to move from under the radar and fire off our first press release. Of course, the Associated Press was included in my list of contacts.

About two hours later, I followed up with a phone call to make sure that Chuck Pennacchio would be included in the list of candidates running for the seat. I even told him, I don’t care if it is a brief mention–we aren’t even looking for a story.

He challenged me to legitimize the campaign…

So I told him:

1.) The Hotline called us this morning

2.) The Republican Party included us in their press release on Bob Casey.

3.) Chuck was the Iowa Caucus Field Director for Paul Simon, Dep. campaign manager for Tim Wirth’s first Senate bid, and has worked as a Personal Aide to Sen. Alan Cranston and Military Case Worker for Representative Ron Dellums.

4.) I talked to him about the fact we have been to DFA’s across the state — and decided to cut out the middle men (Ed Rendell and the state party), and take our message right to the voters.

5.) I told him about our online outreach, and discussed the way politics is changing.

6.) I told him about PoliticsPA mentioning us this morning.

7.) I told him about a few papers that have mentioned us across the state already.

8.) I told him that 12 of the outgoing US Senate members of the 108th Congress had never held ANY elected office before that seat.

That doesn’t even include people like Patrick Leahy who was a county state attorney before elected to the Senate, or Joe Biden, who was on the County Council of New Castle, Delaware.

9.) I told him that we have filed with the FEC as an official candidate and have raised well over the $5,000 minimum to report.

And five minutes ago, I see this crap.

Not a single mention of our campaign — not even in the last sentence. But there was this quote:

“It was always his goal to try to have a united front,” said Penny Lee, Rendell’s communication director. “We’re not expecting anyone to file against Bobby” in the Senate primary, which is still 15 months away.

So, the reporter, Peter Jackson, who just happens to be the Associated Press’s beat reporter for Harrisburg, printed an article that not only didn’t mention Chuck, but strongly implied that no one was even going to file to run against Casey. And this after Tagaris told Jackson that they had already filed with the FEC. I guess Jackson likes his access to the Governor’s mansion.

And his reporting hasn’t gotten any better. Jackson recently filed a story about a Democratic gay-rights group that is holding Santorum `retirement parties’ throughout the country. The group is hoping to raise $5,000 to help defeat Santorum. So, Jackson called up the Democratic contenders to ascertain their views on gay marriage. (There is another man, Alan Sandals, who is running too.) This is how Jackson reported it:

Casey, the son of the late governor, was hand-picked by national Democratic leaders as the party’s best hope of unseating Santorum. But two lesser-known Philadelphia Democrats – college professor Chuck Pennacchio and pension lawyer Alan Sandals – have said they plan to challenge Casey for the nomination.

The three have similar positions on gay rights. All three support laws banning discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Casey and Pennacchio favor allowing same-sex couples to join in civil unions that could provide them with many of the same benefits as marriage, while Sandals supports gay marriage.

Any endorsement by the Stonewall Democrats in the primary hinges on the ability of chapters in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Harrisburg to agree. If not, the group may not endorse, said Renee Gilinger, state director of the Philadelphia chapter, Liberty PA.

This led Chuck to write Peter Jackson the following:

Peter,

With all due respect, your piece regarding my positions of gay rights and gay marriage — as compared to Casey’s views — misses a good deal. You write: “The three have similar positions on gay rights. All three support laws banning discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Casey and Pennacchio favor allowing same-sex couples to join in civil unions that could provide them with many of the same benefits as marriage, while Sandals supports gay marriage.”

In fact,

a) I favor civil unions that would give gay couples ALL of the benefits of marriage — through both state and federal statutes. I thought my phone discussion with you would have conveyed at least that much. In addition, my web site (unlike Casey’s and Sandals’) spells it all out in detail.

b) On the other hand, Casey, Jr. — the “openly” stealth candidate — is against gay couples adopting children; he is against domestic partner benefits; he does not recognize same gender marriages in other states; and he supports BOTH the Pennsylvania Defense of Marriage Law and the Federal Defense of Marriage Act. In addition, Casey, Jr. believes that Catholic healthcare providers should not be required to deliver services contrary to their conscience and moral teachings. My differences with Casey, Jr. are,
therefore, very significant, whereas the article makes us sound identical.

c) I am not a Philadelphia Democrat; I am a Bucks County Democrat.

Perhaps we could now do that feature piece that you promised back in March.

I will be happy to discuss with you our winning organization, winning message, and superior, time-tested strategy based on my work with Sens. Alan Cranston, Tom Harkin, Tim Wirth, and Paul Simon, and advanced Internet campaign. In addition, I am always happy to talk substance about my federal-level experience as a Senate aide and Congressional military case worker, and to share my national security expertise on homeland security and international relations.

The one head-to-head poll with Casey shows me ahead 58-41.

Daily Kos

Casey refuses even to consider debating me (and/or Alan Sandals) prior to the May 16 primary, much as he did with Rendell back in 2001/2002 when
Casey, Jr. lost the spring 2002 gubernatorial primary by 12 points after leading by 17 on the preceding October 30.

Consider, too, that a pro-life/anti-choice Democratic candidate for either U.S. Senator or Governor has never come close to beating a
pro-life/anti-choice Republican in a general election.

Moreover, the last time the PA Democrats elected a full-term U.S. Senator was in 1962, Joe Clark. That’s 14 straight Democratic defeats. I’m happy
to match my winning record against PA Dems losing record.

Respectfully yours,

Chuck Pennacchio

Did Jackson correct the record on any of these points? No.

Chuck,

I said the three Democrats have similar views on gay rights – not identical – and the context was in comparison to Santoruum. I have no doubt that you and Casey and Sandals differ on the details and the other issues you mention, but I was making only general comparisons on a couple major issues. What I took from our brief conversation yesterday
was that you favor civil unions but not marriage.

I said you are a Philadelphia professor and a prospective Democratic candidate.

Respectfully,

Peter

So, you can see how hard it is to get your name mentioned and your issues properly represented when the Governor has thrown his weight behind another candidate and he has the AP reporter wrapped around his finger.

But, you know what? We don’t have to take this shit from Rendell, from Schumer, from Reid, from Casey Jr, or from Peter Jackson.

Santorum can be beaten by Chuck Pennacchio. There is no need to try to trick Pennsylvanians into voting for another Bob Casey. We don’t need more pro-life Senators. We need Senators that will stick up for our beliefs and our constitutional rights. So tell Peter Jackson how you feel about his half-ass biased reporting.

pjackson@ap.org

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