After The Train Wreck

Kos says a lot of good things here (and more will be said later on this, to be sure), and I respect him and his site enormously, but I have just one question: where has it been ordained apparently that Bob Casey, Jr. is going to be the PA Senatorial Democratic nominee?

One of the reasons why the Repugs keep winning these battles is because they ENERGIZE THEIR BASE. How can Casey do that when he thinks his “base” is the centrist/accommodationist/triangulationist DLC Democrats who do nothing but lose elections year after year? And how can I even measure whether or not Casey has any energy when, to tell you the truth, at this moment, I don’t even know whether or not he even exists, because I haven’t seen or heard from him in weeks?

Chuck Pennacchio stood up to that “Justice Sunday III” farce. Chuck Pennacchio has tried to engage Casey in a dialogue and received nothing but silence. Hell, Casey wouldn’t even be the nominee if it weren’t for some horrible miscalculation by DSCC Chairman Charles Schumer and Gov. Ed Rendell (I otherwise respect Eddie, but he really “bit it” on this one).

Chuck Pennacchio is the answer in Pa. If Casey gets the nomination instead, Santorum will win. And I don’t know about you, but I’m getting tired of taking that “punch in the gut” from one Repug victory after another.

Update 2/1: Kos says Pennacchio "isn't viable". With all due respect, neither is Casey.

Kos is right of course about the money, having fought many wars in the trenches himself. But Casey has shown me less than nothing, and I'm going to stand or fall with a candidate who REALLY wants the nomination (I have a feeling I'll "fall" with him despite my best effort, which is truly awful to contemplate, but so be it).

Update 1/30 (I think): From Atrios, here are the 25 Dems who stood tall...

Bayh, Evan (D-IN)
Biden, Joseph R., Jr. (D-DE)
Boxer, Barbara (D-CA)
Clinton, Hillary Rodham (D-NY)
Dayton, Mark (D-MN)
Dodd, Christopher J. (D-CT)
Durbin, Richard (D-IL)
Feingold, Russell D. (D-WI)
Feinstein, Dianne (D-CA)
Jeffords, James M. (I-VT)
Kennedy, Edward M. (D-MA)
Kerry, John F. (D-MA)
Lautenberg, Frank R. (D-NJ)
Leahy, Patrick J. (D-VT)
Levin, Carl (D-MI)
Menendez, Robert (D-NJ)
Mikulski, Barbara A. (D-MD)
Murray, Patty (D-WA)
Obama, Barack (D-IL)
Reed, Jack (D-RI)
Reid, Harry (D-NV)
Sarbanes, Paul S. (D-MD)
Schumer, Charles E. (D-NY)
Stabenow, Debbie (D-MI)
Wyden, Ron (D-OR)

A few items I'd like to add:

- I once criticized John Kerry and Barack Obama for supporting the fraud bankruptcy bill that was passed last year; I said that based on some information that Arianna Huffington actually got wrong (it happens). A commenter put me wise to the fact that they voted against it, and Kerry stood tall by trying to "rally the troops" for a late charge in this for the filibuster - it didn't have much of a shot, but it was a battle that had to be fought (and Obama did the right thing also).

- I still definitely lean towards Molly Ivins in not supporting Hillary for the presidential nomination for all of the reasons related to the DLC that Molly mentioned in her column, but HRC came through when it mattered.

- I thought Lautenberg and Menendez in NJ played it just right, with Lautenberg being in a particularly tough spot having supported Alito in the past and both holding off on committing until the very end. Also, as you know, Menendez was not my first choice to replace Corzine (not any choice, actually), but this was a hell of a first vote for him, and the only reward he's going to get for it is a bitter fall campaign to keep his seat in the Senate.

- In addition to Lieberman, I noticed Tom Carper of Delaware as another "chicken Dem" missing from the list (along with a few others, of course). Amazingly enough, I don't see Tom Harkin of Iowa either, who I thought would know better. We remember things like that, don't we?