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Monday, May 02, 2005

PA-Sen: Abortion Hurting Casey Fundraising

You might remember Barbara Hafer, the pro-choice Democrat that was forced out of the Pennsylvania Senate race to support Bob Casey, Jr. Casey's last period fundraising report was disgraceful, with the candidate only raising $90,000. Could his anti-rights stance on abortion be the reason why? From USA Today:

After meeting with Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, a former Democratic national chairman, Hafer agreed to step aside. But she doesn't sound happy about it.

"I've heard from many, many, many women and men who are not just pro-choice but are very concerned about the shift of emphasis in the party," Hafer says.

"I think it hurts fundraising. It certainly hurts the base of the party." She says she felt compelled to do what Rendell felt was best for Democrats.

"If that's accurate or not," she adds, "only time will tell."

Hafer's views became irrelevant when she let herself get steamrolled. As for whether the women's groups will have relevance in deciding how Democrats talk about abortion, only the primary will tell.

Posted at 09:19 AM in Pennsylvania | Technorati

Comments

It is shameful the way outsiders have tried to intervene in, and essentially disrupt, Bob Casey Jr.'s bid to unseat the repugnant Rick Santorum. Santorum does not fit the mold of the average Pennsylvanian. By and large, we are a very moderate state, and generally more understanding of the views and moral beliefs of others. Santorum will be easily defeated by a moderate like Casey.

Shame on those who attack Casey for not being liberal enough. As a liberal Democrat, I criticize all those Republicans who are not moderate, but I refuse to join in the hypocrisy of casting aside all moderate Democrats. Let's not become the left wing versions of O'Reilly and Dobson. Bayh and Nelson have been demonized (by our own party) for representing their individual states and not the national Democratic party. While I would love to see a fully Progressive Congress, the fact is that these people are doing their jobs. They are elected to represent their constituents and their values. While there have been many times when a stateman's constituents have been clearly wrong on a particular issue (Civil Rights in the South in '60s), the abortion issue is not a black and white issue. Pennsylvania is dramatically more Catholic than other states, and the abortion issue is a significantly "gray" area to many in the Keystone State.

I have seen no evidence that Casey would endose anti- Wade v. Roe candidates, other than that he is personally against abortion. (I believe John Kerry was also...).

Let's not attack a life-long faithful Democrat like Casey because some opportunist Republican cross-over decided she didn't want to wait in a long political line on the Republican side.

Posted by: BCarr at May 2, 2005 12:29 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

Outsiders? Yeesh. I suppose we could pass laws that prohibit people from out-of-state from giving money or volunteering for campaigns in other states. Of course, such laws would run afoul of the First Amendment.

Until you're ready to repeal the First Amendment, the involvement of "outsiders" in political campaigns is going to remain a fact of life in this country, as it has for centuries.

Posted by: DavidNYC at May 2, 2005 02:42 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

Too bad there is no alternative in the primary.

Posted by: Fran for Dean at May 2, 2005 05:23 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

Dude Tim,

What with the Casey bashing? I know you work for Pennacchio, but to attack another democrat is rediculous. So me a poll with Pennacchio vs. Santorum thats reasonable, and I'll shut up.

Posted by: jkfp2004 at May 2, 2005 09:28 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

The post was written by Bob, not Tim. The three of us are all Democrats, but beyond that, we're free to disagree with each other.

Posted by: DavidNYC at May 2, 2005 11:05 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment