Penna’s 3 Democratic Contenders for U.S. Senate Meet for Televised Debate
April 8th, 2006 by PapaSkaroffCandidates Bob Casey Jr., Chuck Pennacchio, and Alan Sandals will duke it out together for the first time 7 p.m. tonight Saturday, April 8, live from Slippery Rock University on the PCN cable channel. A rebroadcast is set for Sunday 3 p.m., and PCN will stream it online. Be an informed voter and fire up your VCR/TiVo/DVR.
Watch as conservative Casey, currently leading in the polls, tries to hone his oratory skills for his hoped-for debates next fall against incubent Neo-Con Sen. Rick Santorum. Pennacchio and Sandals, both liberals, have the debating skills but need to develop more name recognition.
Their positions on the issues are more in tune with those of most Pennsylvania voters. According to a Zogby poll late January, voters preferred Pennacchio and Sandals over either Casey or Santorum when presented with the candidates’ issue stances.
Pennacchio and Sandals face an ironic possibility: If they remain unknown to most voters, then Casey can win the primary based on name recognition alone, but if they manage to get their positions and names in front of the voters, they’ll likely split the liberal/centrist majority of Democrats, with Casey winning a plurality.
Pennacchio and Sandals have already met several times for debates. Each time, Casey declined his invitation to join them. His campaign manager cited the others’ purported lack of support in the polls and limited fundraising as proof that Casey doesn’t need to bother with debates.
April 9th, 2006 at 12:22 pm
casey skipped out on three previous debates and refuses to debate in Philadelphia metro area where 40% [i believe that number's correct] of the Dem voters in the state reside
April 12th, 2006 at 4:10 pm
******PRESS RELEASE*****
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For further information, contact:
Jane Shull
Lancaster County for Pennacchio
Email: bookbinjes@aol.com
Phone: 717-299-3334(h)
717-940-6131(cell)
Jerry Policoff
Lancaster County for Pennacchio
Email: Lancaster@chuck2006.com
Phone: 717-295-0237 (h)
717-682-4434 (cell)
PRE-DEBATE RALLY PLANNED FOR PENNACCHIO APRIL 19
Lancaster County for Pennacchio, a local grassroots campaign supporting US Senate candidate, Chuck Pennacchio, will hold a rally at 4:30pm, April 19, outside the Franklin & Marshall Alumni Sports and Fitness Center, 931 Harrisburg Pike, Lancaster, in anticipation of a three-way debate later that evening at 7pm. Sponsored by the Floyd Institute’s Center for Politics and Public Affairs, this debate will be the second meeting of Democratic candidates for US Senate–Pennacchio, Alan Sandals, and Bob Casey, Jr. G. Terry Madonna will moderate.
Their first square-off took place on April 8 at Slippery Rock University, where Casey went on record in opposition to Roe v. Wade, saying the case was “wrongly decided”. He also stated he does not support the censure of President Bush or a pull-out of US troops from Iraq. In contrast, Pennacchio favored a planned withdrawal from Iraq, sustaining Roe v. Wade as established law, and backing Russ Feingold’s censure resolution as a possible prelude to impeachment proceedings.
According to Jerry Policoff, organizer of Lancaster County for Pennacchio, “The differences between Chuck Pennacchio, a real Democrat in the tradition of Paul Wellstone, and Bob Casey Jr. could not be clearer.”
The possibility of a third debate in Philadelphia, home of 40% of Pennsylvania’s Democratic voters, awaits the okay from the Casey campaign. The Philadelphia League of Women Voters has offered sponsorship and local TV stations have committed to air it live, but only if Casey agrees to participate, which so far he has declined to do. Both Pennacchio and Sandals have agreed to participate.
Authorized by Lancaster County for Pennacchio