It isn’t often that Bob Casey Jr., — the would-be Democratic Senate candidate for Pennsylvania hand chosen by Chuck Schumer and the DSCC — takes a public stand on anything, a fact not lost on the Santorum campaign’s new website, Where’s Bob Casey?
As the web site of Casey’s principle opponent for the nomination, Chuck Pennacchio, points out, Casey’s views are usually closer to those of Rick Santorum (especially on social issues like abortion rights, gun control, an exit strategy from Iraq, stem cell research, congressional intervention in the Schiavo case, the Patriot Act, et al) than they are to rank-and-file Democrats.
But on the rare occasions when Casey does speak out, he almost seems intent upon alienating the progressive Democratic base, an odd strategy for a candidate who is going to desperately need those votes to defeat Santorum in the fall, should he win the nomination. Of course it is the voters who will determine just who the Democratic candidate will be, not Chuck Schumer or Governor Ed Rendell. There is, after all, a May 16th primary, much to the chagrin of the DSCC.
Casey did it when he endorsed Samuel Alito’s nomination to the Supreme Court back on January 24th.
He did it again when he strongly endorsed the Patriot Act back on February 6th. (That press release has since been scrubbed from his web site and replaced with one that says that he is for educating children).
And he did it yet again on February 21st when he told the Harrisburg Patriot-News that he opposed nearly all gun control legislation including a ban on assault weapons and mandatory background checks.
Last Friday he did it yet again.
According to a recent American Research Group poll 70% of Democrats want to see President Bush censured for unauthorized wiretapping (61% favor impeachment). But not Bob Casey Jr. As usual he supports George W. Bush, and he doesn’t even seem to care whether Bush’s wiretapping initiatives are legal or not:
…Ever since Sen. Russell Feingold (D., Wis.) floated a resolution censuring President Bush for his domestic spying program, news reports have chronicled the ways congressional Democrats tried avoiding questions about it.
…Democratic Senate candidate Bob Casey Jr. took on the question Friday after a child-care forum in Philadelphia.
“I don’t think I’d support it,” said Casey, who has campaigned with Feingold and received $3,500 from his political action committee. “I think we should be making sure we give law enforcement and federal agents the tools they need to fight terrorism.”
Asked whether he nonetheless agreed with Feingold’s overarching message that the wiretapping program is illegal, Casey punted the question.
“Well, that is a judgment that lawyers are going to make,” said Casey, a lawyer. “And that is an important answer.” – Carrie Budoff
So let’s get this straight. Casey doesn’t know if the wiretap program is legal or not. That is for lawyers, not he, to decide, even though he is a lawyer. Legal or not though, he opposes censure and wants to continue providing “law enforcement and federal agents the tools they need to fight terrorism.” Sounds like something Rick Santorum would say, doesn’t it?
This is why I support and am working to elect Chuck Pennacchio, a progressive Democrat and the only person I believe can defeat Rick Santorum this fall. You can’t beat Santorum by sounding like him every time you open your mouth.
the more I read about this guy, I wonder why the hell he’s a Democrat. Maybe because it’s the only way he could actually win an election?
We could call him “the Olestra candidate” — Olestra is the fake fat that’s used in products like potato chips, but if you eat too much of it you get stomach cramps and diarrhea. We don’t need Olestra-laced food…and we certainly don’t need Olestra Democrats…
He’s a Democrat for the same reason Reid, Biden, Lieberman, H. Clinton, and all the other turncoats are.
There’s more money in being the underdog.
There should be a Casey moniker of the week. “Olestra Democrat” has my vote for this one.
He certainly makes me want to shite my pants.
One more coffin nail! It is getting to be a joke. This dem party will lose seats this coming November and they will stand there amidst the wreckage and cry out they was robbed. Yup, they was robbed by their own selfish greed.
Not a penny more AND not a minute of time! Screw them just like they are screwing us.
billjpa
They’ll blame it on the women. It will be our fault that Casey lost. But we don’t have to go down that road – we can get Chuck past the primary and into the race.
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Is there a substantive difference on any meanigful level between Casey and Santorum?
Could Caey be a “Frankenstein” type creature, a “Stepford”,”Doppelganger”, freakish monster “Clone” of Ricky created by mad scientists in the Santorum cabal that replicates Santorum’s insane character but merely masquerades as a Dem?
if he’s a Rovian plant — if he gets into office he’ll nominally cooperate with the Democrats unless the Dems have a small majority, at which time he’ll switch sides and support his “spiritual allies” on the Religious Reich.
And whoever said that the women will be blamed if Casey loses is absolutely right…they want our time, our talent, our treasure, and our vote…but when we want their support, it’s “extremist” and “inconvenient”…
Get a hold of youself-a Rovian Plant?!?
When you think he couldn’t be more of an ass.
No. I think his ability to be an ass knows no bounds.
Thanks for finding that. I missed it. I was waiting for it to happen though.
Thanks for paying attention to what Casey says and doesn’t say. I’ve been wondering why he calls himself a Democrat. We need Chuck Pennacchio, who stands for the things I believe in–choice,stem call research, a living wage and universal healthcare.
JPol –
Any interest in putting together a diary on the mess that started this whole argument? I couldn’t sit through another minute of the nasty fighting over at the other place, and I think that we stand to lose a valuable lesson in Stupid Things Our Party Does, if we don’t really take a look at maneuvers like the one that Schumer and Rendell pulled here. I had started a diary on that, but haven’t been able to pull it together.
The way I see it, the self-defeating move in this race isn’t voting for Casey or voting for Chuck or Sandals, it’s not having any other options.
Armando really went to town in that thread. It’s a good example of where he stands politically, and it isn’t where a lot of people think.
I made a similar comment before noticing yours. Armando really surprised me this morning. He is quite right that the Casey supporters only drive a deeper wedge between their candidate and his detractors. To them any one who doesn’t agree with their “pragmatic” Democratic politics is a radical, stupid, a closet Republican, a spoiler, etc. etc. Do they really think insults and total absence of rational arguemtns are going to carry the day for their man. I saw Pennacchio people really digging in over there. Many of them were probably convinced not to vote for Casey this morning. Maybe those shrill Casey supporters really work for the GOP.
jerry,
there are lot Dems that feel it is their job to get Casey elected because it is so important that we retake the Senate. It doesn’t mean they work for the GOP. They probably are just looking out for the country’s interests the best way they know how. Some of them are probably Casey’s people.
But, they definitely are not helping things.
The problem is that they have nothing to work with. Casey doesn’t appeal to Democrats because he isn’t a Democrat.
I agree, but some of them are so strident that one has to wonder where they are coming from. I want to get rid of Santorum as much as any one, and I too would like to see the Democrats take back the Senate. The problem is that my vote is sacred, and I will not give it to someone like Casey. Nor will I reward the Democratic Establishment for attempting to deprive me of an open primary. They could have had my vote if they had not attempted to extract so high a price for it.
I also see some real denial in a lot of those comments. They think Casey’s right-wing agenda is mainstream, and any one who says otherwise is not worthy of calling themselves a Democrat.
I know most of the Democratic Establishment in Lancaster County. A surprisingly large percentage of them — probably a majority — support Pennacchio. Most of the rest reluctantly support Casey. Only a few enthusiastically back Casey. I’ve met only one who approaches the evangelical fervor displayed by the people Armando was fighting with this morning. That one person is simply in denial, insisting Casey’s detractors are simply lying about where he stands on the issues.
To me, that’s what party discipline should look like. It was his persistent, intense attack on divisive internal fighting that impressed me. I didn’t come away with a strong sense that given the opportunity, he WOULDN’T vote for Casey in the primary, if he decided it was necessary as a strategic choice. But he was absolutely intolerant of the backstabbing and tribalism between dems and dems.
Armando has already said he endorses Chuck.
Armando said he would hold his nose and vote for Casey. I on the other hand will not. I respect his decision, but we see things differently.
I’ll hold my nose and vote against Santorum. But we’re working on the ground, as Albert’s latest diary makes clear, to try to make sure we don’t get screwed like this again.
I agree. I am getting more and more active in the local democratic party and am being urged to become a committee member or even to run for district leader. I get a little shit for my public position that I won’t vote for Casey if he is the ultimate nominee, but many privately agree with me and quietly concede that they will not vote for him either.
We need to take our party back at the county level and tell the DSCC and the DCCC to go fuck themselves. Their support is like a disease because once they get you dependent on their money they want to run your campaign and tell you where you stand on the issues.
I’d love to do a diary about that, but I am up to my eyeballs in the Pennacchio campaign right now and it would take a lot of time to pull that together. Their heavy hand is visible all over the country. They want to control who runs and control how they run by dangling cash. It would make a good book, but not one I have the time to write at present.
I am convinced that Kos is thoroughly infiltrated by people set to pounce on categories of diaries. I was impressed that Armando was all over that thread this morning handing out troll ratings to several of the obvious culprets. That didn’t seem to stop them though. If he and Kos had been more forceful a year or so ago the site might not be so out of control today.
Lets hope this does not happen here.
You heard it here first–well, probably not. But mark my words: Santorum is gonna win this thing. I have no confidence that my party will win in PA, or too many other races, regardless of rethug corruption, incompetence and generic party polls showing the public favoring Democratic ideals.
You have to raise and articulate these ideals if we are to win. We’ve also got to show some damn backbone! It’s not enough to have individual acts of courage (Conyers, Boxer, Murtha, Durbin–oh, and didn’t HE learn his lesson well after his smackdown???) but the party must show courage among the leadership as well.
How many times do we have to repeat the drill? Given the choice between a rethug and rethug-lite, and the rethug wins.
So when Casey loses to Santorum, the party will wonder why liberals and progressives didn’t vote for him.
And then they will blame us.
Lather. Rinse. Repeat.
And worse, they’ll push another Troglodite next time because they never learn.
They figured they could neutralize the choice issue by anointing Casey and forcing Hoeffel and Hafer out of the race. They didn’t stop to think that small campaigns like Pennacchio’s could make giant strides because thousands of progressive voters simply will not let the party force someone like Casey down their throats.
Oh yeah. We just keep doing the same thing, over and over again, expecting a different result.
The very definition of insanity, as I know you know.
I’m just so very tired of the same old, same old. I’m not giving any of my meager resources to these jokers. You can forget it. They won’t be meager for long, anyway.
In fact, I just received yesterday a some lit piece from the DSCC under Clinton’s name.
I tore it up and put it in the trash. Unread. Unopened.
I plan to give to individual candidates (ones I actually like, that is) and the DNC only. The DCCC or DSCC? Nope.