The Sailor gave a least a try, but the lady, in this case, was unfaithful to her word.
Now, we all need to decide what next. A number of Chuck supporters are refusing to vote for Casey and that, to point out the obvious, is their choice. I think it is a mistake, however. They accomplished something meaningful with this campaign and now is the time for them to pull together and figure out if it's an end or the beginning. Casting off the Democratic Party will bring it closer to an end than a beginning, I fear.
Casey is terrible on many of the things most important to me and to most of the Pennacchio supporters -- stem cells, choice, gay rights, the war(s), standing up to BushCo, church and state issues. To be sure, his best friends in the Senate are likely to be other members of the same party -- Specter, McCain and Lieberman.
But, as my Cajun friend notes, Casey IS at least a reliable vote for Harry Reid as Senate Majority Leader. I hope Casey has that opportunity.
I have serious, serious reservations about whether the Democratic Party will take back the Senate this year. Sure, I see the polls that say how low the President's approval is, how low the Republican Congress's approval is, and how much the general electorate intends to vote for a change. But, the "general electorate" doesn't vote in these elections and "change" is not on the ballot.
Individual States, themselves made up of individual communities, themselves made up of indidividuals, vote, and they vote for their individual Senator. There is a long, long road separating an answer to a pollster's general question of discontent with "the Congress", to a decision, six months from now, to vote against Senator Talent or Senator DeWine or Senator Whomsoever. So, to me it is far from certain that a Senator Casey (just typing that makes me cringe) will have an opportunity to vote for the majority leader.
But, the upside is so great -- the investigatory power, the repeal of the worst excesses of BushCo (even without Casey's support on some of them -- like stem cells and the tax cuts), the return to sanity and balance in judicial appointments, a stiff-arm on the last floundering twitches of the Bush Administration, keeping us from invading Iran, just to name a few, that it would be foolish -- no, tragic -- if we let our anger and disappointment in our party (and fellow-citizens), and our disgust at the very idea of a Senator Casey, allow us to threaten all those great things which could be accomplished, and all those awful things which could be stopped, with a Democratic majority in the Senate.
Casey is nothing I would want to see in a Senator -- he is not smart, he is not principled, he favors appeasement over the good fight, he does not inspire, he has no vision (much less long range vision). A vote for Casey is a vote based on two things and two things ONLY -- he is not Santorum, and he has a "Dem" after his name. We deserve better, but we don't have anything better right now.
A write-in for Chuck or, even worse, a vote for Santorum, will do all sort of horrible things. It will help return Santorum and it will diminish the strength of the progressive voices that came together -- over 100,000 of them -- to say "enough!" We do not have to become another Joe H. and appease the Party. To the contrary, we need to fight the inertia of the party at every turn -- fight everywhere, at every level, to make your voices heard. Go to the ward meetings, run for County and State committee positions, run for convention delegate spots, become active in local and statewide campaigns. It takes work and dedication -- it is harder than voting for Casey, and it is more rewarding than voting for Santorum. Apart from his preference for blackened carp, Shlomo usually makes sense and here he is right on -- you can't change politics without changing politics -- we need to BECOME the Democratic Party:
Now, we all need to decide what next. A number of Chuck supporters are refusing to vote for Casey and that, to point out the obvious, is their choice. I think it is a mistake, however. They accomplished something meaningful with this campaign and now is the time for them to pull together and figure out if it's an end or the beginning. Casting off the Democratic Party will bring it closer to an end than a beginning, I fear.
Casey is terrible on many of the things most important to me and to most of the Pennacchio supporters -- stem cells, choice, gay rights, the war(s), standing up to BushCo, church and state issues. To be sure, his best friends in the Senate are likely to be other members of the same party -- Specter, McCain and Lieberman.
But, as my Cajun friend notes, Casey IS at least a reliable vote for Harry Reid as Senate Majority Leader. I hope Casey has that opportunity.
I have serious, serious reservations about whether the Democratic Party will take back the Senate this year. Sure, I see the polls that say how low the President's approval is, how low the Republican Congress's approval is, and how much the general electorate intends to vote for a change. But, the "general electorate" doesn't vote in these elections and "change" is not on the ballot.
Individual States, themselves made up of individual communities, themselves made up of indidividuals, vote, and they vote for their individual Senator. There is a long, long road separating an answer to a pollster's general question of discontent with "the Congress", to a decision, six months from now, to vote against Senator Talent or Senator DeWine or Senator Whomsoever. So, to me it is far from certain that a Senator Casey (just typing that makes me cringe) will have an opportunity to vote for the majority leader.
But, the upside is so great -- the investigatory power, the repeal of the worst excesses of BushCo (even without Casey's support on some of them -- like stem cells and the tax cuts), the return to sanity and balance in judicial appointments, a stiff-arm on the last floundering twitches of the Bush Administration, keeping us from invading Iran, just to name a few, that it would be foolish -- no, tragic -- if we let our anger and disappointment in our party (and fellow-citizens), and our disgust at the very idea of a Senator Casey, allow us to threaten all those great things which could be accomplished, and all those awful things which could be stopped, with a Democratic majority in the Senate.
Casey is nothing I would want to see in a Senator -- he is not smart, he is not principled, he favors appeasement over the good fight, he does not inspire, he has no vision (much less long range vision). A vote for Casey is a vote based on two things and two things ONLY -- he is not Santorum, and he has a "Dem" after his name. We deserve better, but we don't have anything better right now.
A write-in for Chuck or, even worse, a vote for Santorum, will do all sort of horrible things. It will help return Santorum and it will diminish the strength of the progressive voices that came together -- over 100,000 of them -- to say "enough!" We do not have to become another Joe H. and appease the Party. To the contrary, we need to fight the inertia of the party at every turn -- fight everywhere, at every level, to make your voices heard. Go to the ward meetings, run for County and State committee positions, run for convention delegate spots, become active in local and statewide campaigns. It takes work and dedication -- it is harder than voting for Casey, and it is more rewarding than voting for Santorum. Apart from his preference for blackened carp, Shlomo usually makes sense and here he is right on -- you can't change politics without changing politics -- we need to BECOME the Democratic Party:
[T]he Democratic party has already moved too far to the right, and Bob Casey's election will not change that fact. Whether it be supporting the bankruptcy bill, Hillary Clinton's cuddling up to Rupert Murdoch, or the 34 Democrats who voted to renew the USA PATRIOT act, the Democrats are not going to lurch rightward with Bob Casey in office; they are already there.
The only significant way for progressives to move the Democratic Party back to the left is by becoming the Democratic Party. By uniting us, Chuck Pennacchio's campaign has carried us a long way toward achieving that goal; but we must remain active in politics and shape and affect our local parties throughout the year--not just on election day. Those perched at the top of the Democratic hierarchy are supported by the roots of local politics that we must become. Go to your local Democratic functions, run for precinct chair, donate $50 to a candidate in whom you believe; do anything, but do it often. Through a concerted gradual effort we can become the change we want to see in the Democratic Party.
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