Republican Dave McCormick is calling out incumbent U.S. Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) for being dishonest, arguing that from claiming to visit every county to combatting inflation, his opponent isn’t being straight with Pennsylvania voters.
After a Broad + Liberty report did the math on Casey’s repeated campaign claims that he visits every county in Pennsylvania every year, it appears Casey hasn’t been telling the truth. McCormick told reporters during a press call Friday it’s part of a larger pattern of dishonesty, and a sign of how Casey approaches his job.
“It’s like the guy on the group project who takes credit for the A’s that the group got,” McCormick told reporters in a press call on Friday. “This lie about these county visits is a particularly illuminating one. He hasn’t put in the work to represent our commonwealth.”
McCormick is also targeting Casey on the cost of living, accusing the three-term incumbent of changing his tune about fighting inflation. In 2022, Casey took to the Senate floor to assure voters the $1 trillion Inflation Reduction Act “will reduce inflation… it will fight inflation.”
But now, McCormick says, Casey is admitting to supporters in private that costs for consumes are going to continue to rise.
“I’m not proposing that we’re going to be able to bring these prices down. That’s impossible,” Casey is heard saying on a video released by the McCormick campaign.
“It’s Casey and Biden who are responsible for inflationary policies,” McCormick said. “It’s the absolute peak of cynicism. Their policies are raising inflation then saying it’s [corporate] greed. Casey’s out of step with Pennsylvanians, and Bidenomics isn’t working.”
Democrats punched back, saying McCormick is the candidate who can’t handle the truth.
“Connecticut mega-millionaire and hedge fund CEO David McCormick has a long history of lying about everything, from where he grew up and where he lives to selling out Pennsylvania workers while investing in China and his extreme record on abortion,” Pennsylvania Democratic Party spokesperson TaNisha Cameron told DVJournal.
State Democrats have launched a “Don’t Trust Dave” campaign targeting the GOP nominee, with a heavy focus on their claim that McCormick “is lying about living in Pennsylvania.”
“He hasn’t told the truth about where he lives,” Casey told KDKA-TV. “He lives in Connecticut. He hasn’t been truthful about that. So, you have an out-of-state candidate who’s being supported by out-of-state billionaires.”
McCormick’s campaign points out he’s a native of Washington, Pa. and a seventh-generation Pennsylvanian. He attended high school in in Bloomsberg and his father was president of Bloomsburg State College. McCormick graduated from West Point, served in the George W. Bush administration, and eventually went to work at Bridgewater Associates, a Connecticut-based multi-billion dollar hedge fund, from 2009 to 2022.
McCormick, who is divorced and remarried, returned to Pittsburgh in 2022. He also rents a home in Connecticut near his daughter, who lives there with her mother.
The big question political professionals are asking, however, is whether voters still expect honesty or truthfulness from politicians. In the most recent Gallup poll, just six percent of Americans view members of Congress as maintaining a high ethical standard. That applies to members of both parties.
The Pennsylvania Democratic Party’s attacks are a tried-and-true campaign tactic designed to keep McCormick on the defensive about his record so he has less time to spend attacking Casey, experts say. And according to Berwood Yost, director of the Center for Opinion Research at Franklin & Marshall College, it’s a strategy that Casey needs if he’s going to win re-election.
“He’s demonstrated that he knows how to run an effective statewide campaign,” Yost said of Casey. “But he’s never had a high-quality opponent. McCormick is probably the best candidate he’s faced, at least on paper.”
A recent New York Times/Siena College poll gives Casey just a two-point edge of McCormick, well within the margin of error.
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