PA Democrats - Growin' Up
In a show of unity evidencing a maturation that could propel the Pennsylvania Democratic Party to ascendancy, the field of strong contenders in the US Senate primary has been reduced to one. Barbara Hafer and Joe Hoeffel - both excellent politicians and admirable public servants - have put aside personal aspirations and provided Robert Casey a clear path to the nomination. AHT believes this is a good thing; the Democratic Party - nationally and in Pennsylvania - must become more ideologically diverse to win national and statewide races. Democrats also must adopt strategies that can propel them to electoral victory. Sometimes this means getting behind those who don’t pass our myriad litmus tests but can get the most votes. In contrast to Casey, AHT is unequivocally pro-choice (of the safe, legal, and rare variety) and is vehemently pro gun control; however, we believe that winning elections - this one in particular - is more important than ideological orthodoxy and a potentially divisive and costly primary.
6 comments:
I don't know that it is maturity to pick a statewide political icon to run for office so much as it is expediency.
I am 100 percent happy that Casey is running. But a mature party can have a primary where there are positive discussions about the future of PA and the Country. And, in fact, it is a good way for candidates who may not have enough statewide recognition, to run a good campaign and set them up for a future.
A closed primary decided in the backroom of Harrisburg does no one good.
Look to Rendell, the not-a-chance Jewish Mayor of Philadelphia who beat the iconic Casey, only to be in another "sure lose" race against the sitting AG, who he promptly trounced by making PA think about the future.
The people should decide. Period.
Hey guys, it's bad enough AP spoke with Chuck Pennacchio's people and then chose not to mention the PA Democratic primary is not a uncontested race. Pennachio is a dark horse, but he is running against Casey in the primary, check him out.
Yeah, I have to admit that I don't know quite what to think. Early unity could be good, or it could just waste months when the Democratic nominee was getting lots of publicity discussing issues with opponents. Certainly Hoeffel took a lot of criticism for not using the primary better to build himself up for the race against Specter. MyDD seems to think that this back-room work is a disaster; if they're right, then putting some weight behind Pennacchio would be the right way to send the message. But I just don't feel qualified to judge...
on a different note, who or what is AHT whose opinions Jeff is sharing in this article? I agree with everything Jeff & AHT say, I'm just not sure who AHT is....
hey Jeff, want to delete some of those duplicated comments, so we can see the conversation?
Anoymous, "AHT" seems likely to be "America's HomeTown," the name of this blog. Sort of where he might write "I" or the editorial "we"...
I read the article in the NY Times magazine about Representative Santorium and was disturbed to hear that he and his wife had an abortion.
I know he states that he is pro-life but he explains that, when his wife was 20 weeks pregnant, that they asked to have medication give to induce labor so that they could abort the baby.
I don’t know if he is aware but this is the very definition of an abortion and I hope someone calls him on it as he proclaims that he is against abortions for everyone.
Once again, they don’t get it, the very reason why choice is needed is because there are certain extreme cases where procedures are required to protect the health of the mother or the baby or who knows what.
How can he be pro-lfe and also have an abortion himself?
You guys really need to call him on this
Sincerely,
For God’s sake win!
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