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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.
Rob Kall rob@opednews.com
is a volunteer on CHuck Pennaccio's campaign team, and is editor of www.OpEdNews.com You can
read more of his articles at
Rob Kall Archive
He is also president of Futurehealth, Inc
and organizer of the
The
Futurehealth Meeting on
Neurofeedback, Biofeedback,
qEEG, Optimal Functioning, Positive Psychology, Transpersonal Integration,
Story Summit, Energy Therapies and Medicine, Inner Revolution and Awakening.
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