GOP rips Sen. Bob Casey (D,Pa) as shadow of father
Republican Senate candidate Tom Smith and surrogates attack Sen. Bob Casey as a weak copy of his famous father, and Smith launches a TV spot that highlights his record creating jobs as a business owner.
GOP rips Sen. Bob Casey (D,Pa) as shadow of father
Thomas Fitzgerald, Inquirer Politics Writer
A pair of speakers at a Republican victory rally Monday afternoon in Lancaster were unsparing in their contempt for Sen. Bob Casey (D.,Pa.), including the party’s nominee to replace him, businessman Tom Smith.
“Bobby Casey is not Robert Casey,” said state Rep. Scott Boyd, newly elected chairman of the Lancaster County GOP, referring to the late former governor and namesake of the incumbent senator. “The nut fell far from the tree on this one,” Boyd said, to laughter and applause.
In particular, he said, young Casey lacks his father’s intellect, as evinced by his record of voting with the positions of “Barack Hussein Obama” on 95 percent of roll call votes.
The avuncular Smith then soon detoured from his federal-debt-centric stump speech to take on his opponent’s patrimony.
“There’s many people that say that Sen. Casey won the gene pool,” said Smith, of Armstrong County in western Pennsylvania. “He wound up on third base, and actually thinks he hit the triple.” The latter echoes a famous remark that then-Gov. Ann Richards of Texas made at the 1988 Democratic National Convention to mock the wealthy background of George H.W. Bush, the 41st president.
Smith’s barb came in the context of a self-deprecating riff on the simplicity of his last name and how he’s proud to carry it into battle with the opponent who has a famous last name.
Casey allies were not amused by the disrespect from Smith, a former registered Democrat who was active in the tea-party movement that helped fuel the 2010 wave election that gave the GOP control of the U.S. House.
"Tom Smith didn't just fall from the Tea Party tree: he planted it by founding a Tea Party group," said Mark Nicastre, spokesman for the state Democratic Party. "He said he wants to go to Washington to represent the Tea Party while Bob Casey has been delivering for Pennsylvania's middle-class families."
Catching up on a development that occurred while your blogger – tent pitcher? – was on vacation last week, the Smith campaign has launched its first TV ad of the fall campaign. Called “Big Dreams,” the spot links Casey to four years’ worth of high unemployment and spotlights Smith, a former union coal miner who founded a coal company, as a job creator.
View it below.
Casey would hurry back to Pennsylvania to defend himself if he could remember how to get there. It's been such a long time ago.— Wilhelm Von Humboldt
sad to say, casey looks like a pretty strong favorite for re-election. we can only hope romney keeps it competitive on the presidential level- Who is Smith?— Cuddles
- ...at least the PA voters retired specter in 2010. casey manages to fly under the DC radar...i will not be voting for him.— john dorian
- Ok...Bob Casey is not Robert Casey...It still doesn't answer the question...who is Bob Casey? I've never heard of the guy.— bannedrepublican
- A shadow of his father. I guess the GOP hasn't taken a look at Romney.
His father set the standard for being open during his run for president and Mitt is setting records for being the most hidden candidate of all time.
— Bush Destroyed America - Bob Casey? Who is this Bob Casey fellow? Never heard of him. What does he do for a living? Who pays his salary?? Does he own a taproom in Mayfair or something??? Bob Casey??? Who is he??? The mystery continues....— kelprod2
- I think Bob Casey was adopted. The acorn fell in a different country.— Jean Valjean
- hey cuddles....
the more correct question should be ....who is casey.....— frank1121 - What has Casey done for PA in the last six years? I don't always agree with Toomey's views, but at least he's out there building up his profile as a policy wonk on the budget, which elevates PA's profile and makes the state relevant within Congress. That's a lot more than what Casey's accomplished.— everydayguy
- Toomey is a policy wonk on a repub budget that will cost us more than anything Obama proposed and will again favor the rich while we middle class Americans get screwed again so the gop can grovel to their corporate masters, who, btw,have still not creted any jobs with their 11 years of bush tax cuts. — mike l
- Who is Tank?— bannedrepublican
- This guy is the ultimate lightweight. Won't get my vote, I;ll take my chances with Smith. Can't be any worse.— jimmymack
- Yeah, keep telling yourself that. Start saving now to pay for the taxes the repubs will make us pay to keep their rich friends in cash. — mike l
- Stop blaming the GOP for the pathetically low tax rate on the rich. The Democrats had the presidency, a huge majority in the House, and a super-majority in the Senate and did NOTHING to repeal the Bush tax cuts for the rich because the Democrats in Congress are owned by the same big banks, insurance companies, and other leeches that own the GOP.
NEITHER major party gives a rip about you, or anyone who has not given them a large check. The only people that are served by BOTH major parties are their wealthy donors that keep them employed.
Remember, it was Bill Clinton who signed the repeal of Glass-Steagall, and it was Bill Clinton who signed NAFTA, and it was Bill Clinton who signed the telecom consolidation that allows crooked corporations like Comcast to own a massive media empire AND control access to it.
Corporate Democrats are just as guilty as Republicans for the mess that we're in now, and neither of them deserve to stay in power.
You can reach Tom Fitzgerald at 215-854-2718 or tfitzgerald@phillynews.com.
Reach Thomas at tfitzgerald@phillynews.com.
