Received this via e-mail from Tim Tagaris, of the Pennachio campaign:
As a blogger, you are probably familiar with the story of March 4, 2005. It was not only the day Bob Casey Jr. entered Pennsylvania’s 2006 U.S. Senate race, but the day we sent a powerful message to the mainstream media, by way of the grass/netroots, that our campaign was one with great promise.
When the Associated Press left us out of their article that evening, we were forced to test the muscle of our grassroots organization. We asked our fledgling email list, along with local and national bloggers, to contact the AP and voice their opinion about the omission. I cannot even begin to guess how many emails and phone calls they received, but we got a phone call from an editor that Monday that simply said, “We got the message.” We have been in every AP article since.
Today we need your help again.
While some large papers like the Philadelphia Inquirer and Allentown Morning Call consistently write about our campaign, others still do not, despite receiving consistent, timely, and relevant press releases from the campaign.
So, we created a special landing page at our website. I want to ask you to write on your blogs, and send emails to whatever lists you might have, asking people to visit that page. On it, you will find a list of 25 Pennsylvania newspapers along with contact information for each of them. If your readers are from Pennsylvania, encourage them to write to their local paper. If they are from elsewhere, ask them to write to either: The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pittsburgh Tribune Review, or the Doylestown Intelligencer.
HELP US IN OUR “PRESS CHALLENGE”
This is part of a four pronged approach we are asking you to be a part of in order to ensure a fair and open primary process.
- Pennsylvania Bloggers
- National Bloggers & Blog-work (Kos & MyDD Diaries)
- Email List
- Google Ads – We have purchased Google advertisements for each of the papers and even 15 individual journalists that all link to the page linked above.
Elections should not be settled in smoky backrooms or editorial boards of newspapers; democracy demands that they be settled by a well-informed electorate participating in free and fair elections. Please help us make sure the people of Pennsylvania understand that there is a choice in the 2006 U.S. Senate primary and general elections.
If you’re wondering who Chuck Pennachio is, or what this is all about, see here. To my knowledge, Booman hasn’t come out on Pennachio’s side in the primary contest, but I feel safe in saying that we probably agree with Chuck: the days of smoky backrooms should be behind us.
Many thanks Pastor Dan.
Hopefully we can get a lot of letters sent to the papers included on the page.
Most specifically, the Pittsburgh Post Gazette and Pittsburgh Tribune Review.
We’ll see how it works. We have the email, state bloggers, national bloggers, and Google ads purchased for the PA papers and individual reporters–all linking to the same page.
Your post helps tremendously,
Tim
Check your e-mail. I just sent you some more leads in a reply.
I have not endorsed anyone, but Rendell’s attempt to clear the field for Casey was a slap in the face of all of us.
I’ll be emailing you a little later to find out if there’s anything more I can do to help right here in PA; I also know some other folks who were asking about Chuck’s campaign at the Harpers Ferry meetup the other week.
Thanks, pastordan. I’m nowhere near Pennsylvania, but I’ve been watching this race with much interest. It’s unjust not to give primary candidates a fair hearing. I’ll visit the landing page and call on my friends in Pittsburg and Bethlehem.
I’ve had a letter published in the PG this quarter so won’t be able to get another one in for awhile. I’ve only heard about Chuck Pennachio online, and agree his campaign should be covered more here in Western PA.
However, I have to admit I am torn about this one. While I agree more with Pennachio than Casey on most issues, getting rid of Santorum has to be our highest priority.
So why not support Chuck in the primary, and get behind whoever the nominee is in November 2006?
A-men! Don’t vote in the primary for who you think can win the general, vote for the person who inspires you to vote for them in the general. Trying to second-guess strategy like that is a losing game. Santorum will appeal to “people like them”. What you need is a candidate who appeals to “people like you”.
Because if “people like them” are given a choice between two candidates who appeal for them, they’ll vote Republican.
Oh, I will vote for him in all likelihood. I just am concerned because I’ve heard progressives online say they won’t vote for Casey at all— I totally get why, but hope they keep in mind that there are real differences between him and Santorum.