After Ms. Knoll's discussion of her good works on behalf of Pennsylvanians and Governor Ed Rendell, I approached her to introduce myself and to present her with my campaign card. "Nice to meet you, Lieutenant Governor, my name is Chuck Pennacchio and I'm running for Pennsylvania's U.S. Senate seat in 2006." Her only words for me were, "Why are you running against Bobby Casey?"
Before I could respond to Ms. Knoll, County Chair Jim Young started to introduce me to the assembled crowdBut Lt. Gov. Knoll interrupted Mr. Young and offered to speak on behalf of Robert Casey Jr.'s Senate campaign.
Okay, I thought to myself, this could be interesting. I was not to be disappointed.
After lauding the Casey family for their years of service to our Commonwealth, Ms. Knoll chose to speak directly to only one policy issue: a woman's right to choose under the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court ruling.
(By way of background, former Governor Robert Casey, Sr.'s anti-choice legal battle [Planned Parenthood v. Casey v., 1992] resulted in new restrictions on the 1973 Roe decision. Fortunately, however, the constitutionally guaranteed principle of privacy rights that underlies a woman's control over her reproduction remains intact to this day. Unfortuantely, that fundamental right is threatened by both Mr. Casey and incumbent Senator Rick Santorum.
Having retaken the microphone, Lieutenant Governor Knoll chose her words very carefully. Specifically addressing "women in NARAL and EMILY's List," she said that Bob Casey would not "fight to overturn Roe v. Wade" in the United States Senate. In "private meetings," she shared, Mr. Casey provides his audiences with such assurances.
That's curious, I thought, since my campaign staff has exhaustively researched Bob Casey Jr's positions on abortion rights, and many other social, economic, and foreign policy questions. On abortion rights, Mr. Casey consistently states his intention to continue his family's efforts to overturn on Roe v. Wade -- exactly as his father had done during his two terms as governor. In fact, Casey, Jr's most recent public pronouncement on abortion rights came on March 20, and can be found at:
http://www.newsmakersgroup.com/worldview/index.php?id=13
(The program on which Mr. Casey appeared, "Worldview," is a nationally-syndicated Christian-oriented television program hosted by Jerry Bowyer.)
In contrast, other Casey supporters take him at his word when he publicly opposes a woman's right to choose. The 2004 Democratic Senate candidate, Joe Hoeffel, acknowledges Casey's core pro-life/anti-choice position. For months, in fact, Mr. Hoeffel has repeated this same statement about Bob Casey, Jr: "On all issues other than a woman's right to choose, Bob Casey is a progressive Democrat."
And for months I have kept my powder dry while our campaign documented Mr. Casey's truly conservative profile on critical issues such as stem cell research, the death penalty, the U.S. policy in Iraq, the assault weapons ban, separation of church and state, living wage legislation, universal health care, GLBT rights, preserving an independent judiciary (Terry Schiavo case), and drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. So, for Mr. Hoeffel to argue Mr. Casey is "progressive" on "all issues" other than choice is an extraordinary stretch. Such a stretch, in fact, that Mr. Hoeffel has mostly backed away from making such claims. In addition, Mr. Hoeffel should be credited for his honesty on Mr. Casey's opposition to a woman's right to choose and his determination to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Returning to Harrisburg and Lt. Gov. Knoll's "reverse spin" -- where she didn't challenge my claims to being the only progressive on all issues other than a woman's right to choose -- but literally heckled me ("No, that's not true, that's not true!") when I correctly said that I was the only candidate committed to upholding a woman's right to choose.
So here I was facing down a Casey representative (Ms. Knoll) who presented precisely the opposite message as the one I and others had been hearing from Joe Hoeffel since March.
One of the dangers in running a virtual stealth campaign, as Mr. Casey has chosen to do thus far, is that surrogates who are left to define the candidate may contradict each other. Therefore, Ms. Knoll, meet Mr. Hoeffel. Mr. Hoeffel, meet Ms. Knoll.
Rather than have Mr. Casey's surrogates continue debating each other over just how conservative his views are, I have a better idea. Mr. Casey and I should have a real debate about the future of our party, our state, and our nation. In fact, let's have a series of debates starting this fall so that Democrats can understand the clear choice they will have between me and Mr. Casey in the Democratic primary.
Oh, and to answer Ms. Knoll's earlier question --"Why [am I] running against Bobby Casey?" The short answer is that I'm the only Democrat who can beat Rick Santorum without compromising our party's core commitments to choice, equality, opportunity, and reform.
The longer answer is that I have the best chance to beat Rick Santorum because my campaign stands for the progressive principles and participatory politics that will mobilize voters who would otherwise stay home in 2006. My campaign has the best chance to attract the millions of Pennsylvanians who want a new direction in Iraq, and an unwavering commitment to equal rights, universal health care, and economic opportunity for all Americans. By contrast, my opponent's campaign represents the same old politics as usual approach that has led to Pennsylvania Democrats losing 14 consecutive full-term U.S. Senate races, dating back to 1962! I understand that the only way to beat Rick Santorum is stand up to him, not to mimic him. Because I have worked for and with several winning Senate candidates (Alan Cranston, Tom Harkin, Tim Wirth, and Paul Simon) I know what it will take to succeed in 2006. Winning campaigns are about far more than name recognition and fund raising numbers this far from election day. Winning Senate campaigns are primarily about organizing, messaging, party-building, motivating, and touching people's hearts. My campaign is built to win -- and fight for core American values -- in 2006 and beyond.
