I Believe in Chuck Pennacchio

h/t to Chris Bowers for the excellent piece on his recent Philadelphia Ward Committee endorsement meeting. Go read the whole thing on DKos or MyDD.

Here's his recounted speech in favor of endorsing Chuck Pennacchio:

I am not going to say anything negative about Bob Casey. I will not be voting for him the primary, but my vote is neither a "protest vote" nor an "anti-Casey vote."

My vote is a pro-Chuck Pennacchio vote. Up and down the spectrum of issues, Chuck believes in what I believe. He believes in full equal rights for gay and lesbian Americans, and what Valerie [McDonald Roberts, Candidate for Lt. Gov.] said when she spoke to us, that "we must go way beyond just tolerance."

Chuck believes in actually withdrawing from Iraq, not vague promises about withdrawal. Chuck believes that people should have control over their own bodies and their private lives all of the time, not just some of the time. Chuck also believes that campaigns need to be run on the ground, by reaching out to people, not just by money. And on and on and on.

I do not worry about what "message" my vote in the primary sends to people, because my vote is what I believe in. I believe that primaries are where you should always and only vote for what you believe in.

If I thought my beliefs sent the wrong message to people, I would quit politics right now. Many Americans think that Democrats do not stand for anything. If, in our own primaries, when only Democrats are choosing among potential candidates, we vote not for what we believe in, but rather for what we think will appeal to the most people, then how can we ever combat the belief that Democrats do not stand for anything?

I will work for whoever wins the primary, but in the primary I am going to vote for what I believe in.

I believe in Chuck Pennacchio.

Thanks, Chris.

Give people a real choice when they go into the voting booth in November. Rather than having to force them to choose tweedle-dee or tweedle-dum, between someone who will support the Democrat party on some issues, but will sit in the Lieberman wing of the Republican Party when it comes to issues of personal liberty, the use of force and nuclear weapons, gun control, living wages and universal health care, and so many, many other issues. Give them someone who stands for traditional Democratic values, and who holds deeply considered positions that haven't changed, like the other candidates, over the last few months. Give them someone who stands for something. Do that and I am absolutely convinced that Rick Santorum would be thrown out in a landslide. Give them something else, and you give Santorum room to breathe, to wiggle free.