Move over Nancy Pelosi, Republicans have a new liberal bugaboo to use against local Democrats.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) is laying the groundwork for its messaging against Senator Bob Casey by tying him to Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren.
A major part of the effort has been a digital ad campaign comparing Casey’s voting record with Warren’s. The ad buy is likely aimed at generating earned media, rather than moving numbers in a big way.
“During his time in Washington, Bob Casey has positioned himself squarely on the left, voting with Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren 93% of the time,” NRSC spokesman Bob Salera said.
The vote total comes from all votes from Warren’s start in the Senate in 2013 through 2017.
According to Govtrack, who plotted Casey’s voting record on a liberal-conservative map, Casey have voted along a middle left ideology, compared with Warren’s score of the most liberal.
The NRSC has also tied Casey to Warren in the fight over Supreme Court nominee Judge Neil Gorsuch.
“Bob Casey broke with the mainstream of his party, and indicated that he is prepared to join Elizabeth Warren and the far left in their filibuster of Judge Gorsuch,” Salera said in an email.
It is common practice for the minority party in the Senate to vote together, since the Senate rules allow the majority party to pick the battle ground for every vote.
NRSC’s push to tie the two Democratic Senators together might not draw the reaction they are hoping for from the Casey camp. Casey’s main move in 2017 has been standing strongly in opposition of Trump, especially on social media.
The NRSC’s messaging against Casey mirrors the messaging they are taking against all Senate Democrats who they view as vulnerable in 2018. Recent polling shows that Casey in a better position than he was in 2012 for his last re-election. Casey’s numbers in the latest F&M poll show that 19% of Republicans give approve of the job he is doing, while 39% of self-described moderates approve of his job performance. The messaging could be part of a push to push down the number of moderate Republicans who approve of Casey’s performance.
Casey’s campaign declined to comment.
Currently, only state Representative Rick Saccone has announced a run against Casey. Congressman Mike Kelly and state House Majority Leader Dave Reed are also rumored to be considering runs.
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16 Responses
Warren isn’t the face of the Democratic party.
#losers
So what? Casey,Jr. is a good man, a great man, a wonderful man. He defeated Santorum and he will defeat Saccone.
A better idea would be to align Casey with Hillary somehow.
yeah that warren, mcginty approach certainly took out toomey and trump. run on that bobby. republicans please find a candidate, this guy is a gift.
I suppose they have to at least try to do something. I do not envy the NRSC’s job on this one. Their goal is likely just to make the Casey camp spend as much money as possible.
Casey should thank the NRSC.
Casey is safe unless they tie him to kathy kane
Hahahahaha….
Elizabeth Warren is good company to keep. Casey should be proud of the connection.
“The ad buy is likely aimed at generating earned media, rather than moving numbers in a big way.” and like the republican shill you are you’ve gladly complied. how about reporting on how our federal legislators stand on ACA repeal? how many times did they vote to repeal without a plan to replace? How many of their constituents will they be killing per-annum? Who are the taking money from? Where were they during the recess (not meeting with constituents)?
“[…] voting with Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren 93% of the time.”
That’s got to be about as misleading as statistics get, and I’m no fan of Casey. I mean, come on, how many of those are procedural votes? And how many are basic party line votes? The same could be said for almost any Dem in the Senate, and for that matter many Repubs at a lower percentage (if we’re counting purely procedural votes and uncontroversial confirmations). That number means nothing and those dopes know it, but Casey oughta go nonetheless.
A right hook would be his left…
bob casey has a glass jaw. . .a right hook and he’s done.
Like Arlen his weakness is on this right not his left. amazing pa. republicans have let this guy hang around.
So it seems Mike Kelly’s name has backed out a little from the governor’s race rumors and shifted to US Senate. Is there any reason for that? Is Wagner chasing away many probable candidates already?
That’s funny. The progressives barely consider Casey to be in the same party as Warren.
But, Casey’s got the anti-abortion “street cred” from his dad to win over enough of the T.
PA gets won by appealing to the middle/moderates.
Specter was a moderate. Toomey pretended to be a moderate.
There is at least one misspelling or grammatical error in every post now. I really enjoy this blog, but come on Paul, please proofread more.