BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Hitting the campaign trail for GOP Senate hopeful Dave McCormick, Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) didn’t mince words about her Pennsylvania counterpart the businessman is challenging — once she figured out who he is.
“I literally had to stop and be like, ‘Okay, what’s the name of the guy Dave is running against?’’’ Ernst told a crowd of veterans supporting McCormick in Bethlehem on Saturday.
His name is Bob Casey, and he’s a three-term incumbent locked in a tight race, which Cook Political Report recently moved into toss-up territory.
Ernst said Casey has not been one of her more active colleagues during her decade in the Senate.
“I work with a lot of people, Republicans and Democrats, and I can tell you that I have never been approached by Bob Casey to say, ‘Hey, work with me on this issue,’” Ernst said.
Ernst invoked the US military’s idea of a “leader” as someone who “inspires” others to act toward a common goal and concluded that West Point grad McCormick better fit that billing.
“I’ve served in the United States Senate now for 10 years,” Ernst said. “Ten years, and I’ve yet to see Bob Casey inspire others to follow him. … You need a change, Keystone State!”
For his part, McCormick characterized Casey as “weak” and repeated his “Punxsutawney Bob” quip about the incumbent — a reference to the home of Groundhog Day celebrations in Pennsylvania every February.
“He pops his head out of his hole … then he gets through the election, he wins, and he goes back in his hole,” McCormick said. “He’s Punxsutawney Bob, a career politician.”
International Association of Fire Fighters Local 22, a Philadelphia firefighters’ union that endorsed McCormick partly because of Casey’s lack of presence in the community, would likely agree with the GOP candidate likening his opponent to Pennsylvania’s most famous groundhog.
Besides Ernst, McCormick was joined Saturday by two other potential Senate colleagues: Sens. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) and Todd Young (R-Ind.).
Young poked fun at Casey being the son of the late Pennsylvania Gov. Bob Casey Sr. and pointed to his own Senate campaign against Democrat Evan Bayh — the son of another Hoosier senator — in 2016.
“I used to say my opponent is running on his dad’s name,” Young said. “I’m running on my dad’s values.”
