Casey at the bat.

Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) attacked GOP challenger Rep. Lou Barletta (R-Luzerne) on Social Security and Medicare funding in his first negative ad of the cycle.

“In Congress, Lou Barletta supported a plan that would have ended Medicare as we know it,” Casey says in the 30 second ad. “Turning it into a voucher system run by private insurance companies and costing millions of older Pennsylvanians $6,400.”

The ad depicts seniors left with the decision of having to cut back from food, prescription drugs, or keeping the lights on to make up for the costs for medicare.

Barletta’s campaign dubbed Casey as “vulnerable” for releasing an attack ad in August and noted that the message was the PolitiFact’s “lie of the year” from 2011.

“The fact that Casey is running negative and false ads against Lou Barletta proves how nervous Casey is about this race,” said Lou Barletta for Senate Press Secretary David Jackson. “Bob Casey cannot run on a single accomplishment, so he is resorting to scaring seniors with lies that have been repeatedly debunked by independent fact checkers. Bob Casey should immediately take down these deceitful attack ads and stop embarrassing himself.”

Casey has been on television for quite some time, releasing his first ad for the general election shortly after the primaries, but this is the first known attack ads sent from the incumbent.

Polling has indicated that Casey holds a comfortable lead over Barletta, but this didn’t stop the campaign from going on the offensive this early on.

“The majority of Pennsylvanians still don’t know Congressman Barletta so we’re eager to help introduce him and share the facts about his record,” said Max Steele, spokesman for the Casey campaign.

Steele stood by the Medicare claim. “This attack on Medicare sums up Congressman Barletta’s time in Washington: big handouts to corporate special interests that hurt everyday Pennsylvanians. If Congressman Barletta had his way, insurance companies would make billions while Pennsylvania’s seniors would pay the price,” he said.

The Barletta campaign swung back at this notion and pinned Casey for giving Pennsylvania a “broken health care system” and being for sanctuary cities.

“The truth is that Bob Casey gave us a broken health care system that increased taxes by $819 billion and raised premiums by 120 percent in Pennsylvania,” Jackson said.

“Lou Barletta is the only candidate in this race who is fighting for an accessible and affordable healthcare system, securing our communities from dangerous sanctuary cities, and putting more money back into the hands of Pennsylvania families.”

The ad has been spotted by PoliticsPA readers in the Pittsburgh market. If you see this ad or any political ad, I invite you to flag it for me at John@PoliticsPA.com.