Interesting article on Chuck Pennachio, and his personal diary at Kos.

The article is from yesterday. I did not realize what great credentials he has.
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/11263553.htm

SNIP.."If Chuck Pennacchio's candidacy was judged by conventional campaign standards, he would stand little chance in the 2006 U.S. Senate race. The Democratic establishment bypassed the Philadelphia professor earlier this month to line up behind state Treasurer Robert P. Casey Jr. Pennacchio has never run for statewide office. And he has pledged to reject money from special interests in favor of small individual donations.

All of that could have buried Pennacchio from the start just a few years ago, but not necessarily these days when Web logs, or blogs, can lift an obscure candidate into the realm of contender.

Pennacchio and his small, Web-savvy staff have been leaving footprints across dozens of blogs during the last month, hoping their Internet presence - combined with traditional campaigning - builds a loyal grassroots following to rival Casey's stranglehold on the establishment...."

SNIP..."Pennacchio remains an unquestioned underdog. But his creative use of the Internet gives him a megaphone that could create headaches for Casey. Aiming for something larger than party nuisance, Pennacchio contends he is in the race to unseat incumbent Republican Rick Santorum, and there's nothing Democratic leaders can do to bump him aside, as they did with former state Treasurer Barbara Hafer and former U.S. Rep. Joseph M. Hoeffel.

"They can't touch me," said Pennacchio, 45, a Plumsteadville, Bucks County, resident and history program director at Philadelphia's University of the Arts. "They have nothing I want. I want a rebirth of the Democratic Party as a whole. I am not looking for patronage, a job, a career."

Here is his resume:

Charles F. Pennacchio

Age: 45

Party: Democrat

Education: B.A., history and political science, University of California at Berkeley (1981); M.A., diplomatic American and Russian history (1990); Ph.D., diplomatic American and German history, both at the University of Colorado at Boulder (1996).

Experience: University of the Arts, Philadelphia (2003 to present); associate professor, Delaware Valley College (1997-2003); president, JTPenn, a Colo. political consulting firm (1988-1996); field organizer, presidential campaign of Illinois U.S. Sen. Paul Simon (1987-88); deputy campaign manager for Colorado U.S. Sen. Timothy E. Wirth (1986); field organizer for Iowa U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin (1984).

Pennacchio and his wife, Nancy, have two children and live in Plumsteadville, Bucks County

And here is his February diary at Kos. I missed it first time around, and I have enjoyed reading it tonight.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/2/28/161340/724