I received yet another request to attend yet another ZOOM call by a politician running for office in my seemingly endless stream of emails. I was debating whether to ignore it or delete it, but then my guilt kicked in. I live in America, the land of the promise of democracy and I remembered that this precious form of government is under attack by the far right MAGA extremists where there is talk about their candidate being a dictator on Day One, bloodbaths if we lose, retribution against political opponents, etc. If I truly love the idea of America, I know that 2024 is the year all American citizens should do their part, however minor, to defend it. I signed up for the call to see what our Pennsylvania Senator Bob Casey had to say as to why he should be reelected. I am so glad I did.
I learned that Bob does not come across as a regular politician even though he has a long career in politics. His demeanor and focus during the call harkened back to the old-time Hollywood portrayals of good American citizen-politicians. There was a marked sincerity in all his statements as well as a common sense clarity of what should be done to improve the lives of all Americans. He projected a compassionate concern about others and a strong focus on finding solutions to the people’s everyday problems. He didn’t need to traffic in wild conspiracy theories, to frighten people with imaginary horrors, or to demonize entire groups of people who might disagree with him. No, he created a sense of shared purpose among his listeners as he outlined key aspects of his campaign that seemed so obvious, so fundamentally American, and so filled with common sense.
He spoke about protecting the rights of Americans. He spoke about defending and restoring the rights of all women to have the freedom to make decisions about their own bodies. He spoke about defending and expanding the rights of all Americans to have the freedom to participate in our great democracy while expressing incredulity about those politicians who eagerly restrict voting rights or who denigrate our sound free and fair election systems (but only when they lose). He spoke about defending the rights of workers, especially to freely organize into unions to ensure a decent living wage. He spoke about upholding the rights of consumers to be free to afford their everyday needs as well as their critical medical needs in an economy where excessive corporate greed often results in both higher prices and lower wages. And finally, he spoke about the need, in the richest and most powerful country in the world, to fight against child poverty and hunger.
Here was a politician who related to the needs of ordinary American people: the freedom of women, the strength of our democracy, the prosperity of workers, lowering the cost of consumer goods, and preventing child poverty. His concern was real and heartfelt and he radiated a sincere desire to help the American people.
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Bob’s Republican opponent, Dave McCormick, is a rich former hedge-fund CEO who rents a $16 million home in Connecticut (he did buy a house in Pittsburgh during his unsuccessful 2022 senate primary run against Dr. Oz, another out-of-stater). Bob spoke briefly about him in a common sense kind of way that reminded people that Dave will not be focused on solving the problems of ordinary Americans.
Astoundingly, Dave is against the price reductions on medicine, such as the $35 cap on insulin that President Biden just delivered for elderly Americans. Astoundingly, Dave is against the bipartisan infrastructure bill that is delivering so many jobs and infrastructure improvements all across America and of course right here in Pennsylvania. Dave will most certainly be in favor of renewing the $2 billion Trump tax breaks to corporations, and Dave has unsurprisingly expressed a dislike of any pro-union legislation and an affinity for weakening the National Labor Relations Board.
Bob reminded us that the Democrats have a razor thin 51 vote majority in the Senate and that there are many vulnerable Democratic senate seats up for grabs in 2024. Bob was often the critical vote in the passage of Biden’s legislative agenda. This is why it is so critical to re-elect Senator Bob Casey in 2024 and send his opponent back to Connecticut.
After listening to Bob on the Zoom call fielding tough questions about the MIddle East and inflation (he reminded us of his four reports detailing his investigations into corporate greed squeezing families’ budgets and his resultant Shrinkflation Prevention Act, I was reminded of another time when I heard Bob on a rock radio station. Again, I saw him as a down-to-earth Pennsylvanian who could speak so comfortably with a great sense of humor with the radio disc jockeys. He doesn’t talk about Jewish space lasers and a dead Hugo Chavez stealing elections, or banning books from our public schools, or mocking the handicapped and LGBTQ+ community, or immigrants hiding in your backyard ready to rape or kill you, or Big Pharma ripping you off with phony vaccines.
Bob is just a trustworthy guy grappling with real issues that face ordinary Americans and someone who persistently looks for solutions based on bedrock American values. He is what a senator should be. Please do what you can to ensure Bob remains our Pennsylvania senator for another six years.
