Casey launches Senate campaign
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JENNERS, Pa. -- From backyard to race track to gun club, Bob Casey Jr., the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, offered populist denunciations of the Bush administration and his opponent, Sen. Rick Santorum, as he embarked on a holiday weekend of campaigning across Southwestern Pennsylvania.
In a red rented bus, Mr. Casey, with his wife and daughters, was seeking votes in counties that were once Democratic strongholds but which in recent years have become increasingly hospitable territory to Republicans.
His itinerary in the first days of a statewide bus tour seemed calculated to both demonstrate and reinforce his candidacy's potential to appeal to constituencies that have been part of that drift away from the Democrats.
After speaking to a friendly gathering that seemed dominated by Democratic partisans, Mr. Casey headed to the Jennerstown Speedway, where he was to serve as the evening's grand marshal. Later, he was to greet hunters and fishermen at a nearby sportsman's club.
Today, Mr. Casey, who opposes stricter gun control legislation and whose socially conservative views, along with his election track record, led senior Democrats to court his candidacy against the incumbent, has another hunter's club on his schedule.
"I've been a strong supporter of the Second Amendment in all my years in public life," he told a questioner at the Jenners Rod and Gun Club. "That puts me at odds with some members of my own party. I'm at odds with members of the other party on a lot of other issues."
Mr. Casey has outperformed other Democratic candidates in recent elections in southwestern Pennsylvania beyond Allegheny County, and recent polls suggest that that area will pose a tougher challenge to Mr. Santorum than to other Republican candidates in recent years.
Mr. Casey offered a traditional Democratic message speaking to an invited crowd of about 70 in a sunny backyard in the university town of Indiana, Pa.
He contended that the record of GNP growth and low unemployment under the Bush administration did not reflect the economic reality of many families.
"I have a different test. That test is the middle-class family test," Mr. Casey said. "What is happening in their lives because of the policies in Washington?
"It seems over the last few years that every major cost that a middle-income family faces ... that all of those costs are going up. The cost of college tuition is going through the roof, the cost of gasoline, every family knows that has almost doubled since President Bush took office and since Sen. Santorum became a leader. The cost of health care is up over 70 percent."
Mr. Casey repeated his support for Senate proposals to help deal with the health care costs of small businesses and children, but, in response to a question, he said that while universal health care coverage was a desirable goal, its was not a realistic legislative possibility in the near term.
Mr. Casey repeated his call for a repeal of the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest 1 per cent of taxpayers, while arguing that Mr. Santorum's support for those tax reductions was an impediment to progress on other issues.
"When you say you support a tax cut for the top 1 percent, by definition, I believe, you just told the people of Pennsylvania and the people of America that you are going to do nothing, in a real way, on health care and the deficit," he said. "You cannot have it both ways."
Later, over a milkshake at a local Dairy Queen, Mr. Casey criticized his rival's recent emphasis on the immigration issue and denounced a series of moves by congressional Republicans to force votes on emotionally charged social issues.
Mr. Santorum has repeatedly criticized Mr. Casey's statement that he would have voted for a Senate immigration measure designed to both strengthen border security and provide a path to citizenship for some illegal immigrants. Mr. Santorum contends that the latter provision amounts to amnesty for illegal aliens.
"I think its it's pretty sad that a guy who's been in the Senate for 12 years, his first ad ... out of the blocks is a one-issue ad on an issue that's he done nothing about."
Mr. Casey argued that the immigration issue was part of a broader GOP strategy to polarize voters in the prelude to the crucial mid-term elections.
"They have tried to use issues that demonize and divide people, that appeal to emotion and fear, and sometimes worse than that, in order to try to make up ground. ... They did it with gay marriage, they tried to do it with the flag amendment. I'm sure there will be others as well. I think a lot of Americans are tired of it."
At the Jennerstown Speedway, Mr. Casey, the honorary grand marshal, greeted voters before waving the starter's flag. Outside of the racetrack, which was filled with about 5,000 spectators, a handful of Santorum supporters handed out leaflets alerting racing fans to the fact that Mr. Santorum had been grand marshal last year.
Lake Fong, Post-GazetteState Treasurer Bob Casey kicks off his Senate campaign at Jennerstown Speedway yesterday. At right are his daughters, Elyse, 17, and Julia, 12.
Click photo for larger image.
First Published July 2, 2006 12:00 am
