Why Pennacchio can beat Santorum

Seems to me some of us out here have been less than enthusiastic about the Democratic senatorial primary campaign in Pennsylvania. And I think this sentiment might even go beyond what Molly Ivins writes:

I am tired of having the party nomination decided before the first primary vote is cast, tired of having the party beholden to the same old Establishment money.

Yes, that's true. But though we progressives have been unenthused by the Democratic party's inability to gain election victories both here and elsewhere, it does all come down to election victories and not just complaining about the party leadership. To win, a progressive candidate running against a hand-picked less-than-progressive nominee primary opponent must not only buck the party establishment, he/she must also show that he/she can tackle the GOP opponent head-on and win. Not to be too critical, but we've not seen much of that going on recently.

But things might be changing. Make sure to watch this video of Chuck Pennacchio. Here's a real candidate who looks and sounds like he wants to and actually can beat Rick Santorum. Plus, given a chance to speak to the public on a local news show (click link above), he can effectively lay out why he is the best candidate for Senator, not just why his campaign is superior to his primary opponent's. Of course he had to answer a few direct questions about this when asked, but his message is more focussed on why Santorum is wrong and he is the right guy for the job. I believe his message about jobs, health care, gun control and privacy could resonate very well with residents across the wide spectrum of likely Pennsylvania voters. His finances are short, but he makes a good case that this will change following a primary victory.

These are some very promising signs for the campaign and I hope that we will now be able to see a debate between Chuck and the other two primary candidates. I mean, even little Ricky has caught on to Casey's shyness in public:

"It seems like it's a dig at us," spokesman Larry Smar said of the letter from the Santorum camp.

Uh, yeah, that'd be a dig. From your opponent in the race for Senate no less. No reason to hurry to "set a date" though. I mean it's not like Casey hasn't been asked over and over to primary debates. It's not like everyone hasn't bent over backwards to get him to feel comfortable debating.