Senate Democrats fighting for re-election in swing states are not expressing much confidence in President Joe Biden as he faces calls to withdraw from the race.
Some said they doubt he will win if he stays on the ballot. Others remained silent or didn’t appear next to him at campaign events.
Bob Casey was an exception.
Former Senator from Pennsylvania joined other members of the state’s congressional delegation to greet Biden at the Philadelphia airport on Sunday, before attending church with him in a predominantly black neighborhood. And Casey dismissed suggestions from colleagues that Biden risks suffering a “crushing” defeat.
“No,” Casey told reporters Wednesday when asked about Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., making such a suggestion the day before. Asked why he is confident in Biden’s chances, Casey said: “It’s just my opinion.”
Last week, in his first public appearances since the June debate, Casey acknowledged that Biden “had a bad night and a bad debate, but I think people know what’s at stake.”
“I’ve been at this for a while and I know his work,” Casey told reporters. “And I also know that the American people and the people of Pennsylvania are going to focus on these races in the way that I just described.”
Casey’s support has not been as vocal as that of some of his fellow Democrats who are not involved in re-election battles this year, such as John Fetterman, his fellow senator from Pennsylvania.
But Casey’s willingness to support the president as he fights for political survival gives him a boost in the critical swing state and signals that Pennsylvania Democrats may not be as willing to abandon the president as some other members of the party.
In fact, no one in Pennsylvania’s Democratic delegation has publicly broken with Biden in the two weeks since his disastrous debate performance against former President Donald Trump. That’s taken on importance as Biden’s campaign said in a memo Thursday that he will increasingly lean on “Blue Wall” states — Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin — to try to pull off a victory.
Democratic operatives in Pennsylvania said they felt Casey was risking little by supporting Biden. They pointed out that Casey surpassed then-President Barack Obama in the state in 2012 and easily won the 2018 race.
Casey, whose father was governor decades ago, has an established brand in the state, and Pennsylvania Democrats have said that will only help him cross the finish line this fall in a race where he is currently outpacing Biden and his opponent, the executive branch. republican business. Dave McCormick. And while polling averages currently show Trump with a lead in Pennsylvania, Democrats said the former president and his allies have experienced ups and downs at the polls in the state in each election cycle since his surprise victory in 2016.
“He has a pretty established brand in a state that is big enough to be hard to get to know,” said JJ Balaban, a Democratic operative based in Pennsylvania. “So he’s probably not worried about having to prove that he’s independent of Joe Biden.”
Biden also has a deeper personal relationship with Casey than other top Senate Democrats. They have known each other for decades, as Biden, a Pennsylvania native, has long embraced the label of the state’s “third senator.” During the March State of the Union AddressCasey received praise from Biden, who urged Congress to “pass Bobby Casey’s bill to end the inflation contraction.”
“Look, Casey is someone who has known the president for a long time,” said a Pennsylvania Democratic operative on condition of anonymity. “[Biden is] obviously someone he’s worked with for a long time. And it’s a testament to who he is as a person that when things get tough, he’s not just going to back down or follow the experts for an immediate reaction to something.”
While it’s still early days, Democrats in the state say they have yet to see efforts to target Casey for supporting Biden to break with the electorate.
But Republicans are intensifying their attack. Shortly after the debate, McCormick’s campaign released a digital ad backed by a five-figure purchase titled “Bob Casey Knew,” hitting the senator for talking about Biden’s ability to serve as president. In a press release, the campaign said Casey was “supporting Joe Biden as other Democrats fight to protect themselves.”
“There is no one in the Senate closer to President Biden than Bob Casey,” McCormick said in an interview. “They’ve known each other for 30 years, they talked about each other as good friends, best friends, all that stuff. So he campaigned with him dozens of times in the last 24 months. So what Bob Casey is essentially saying is he has no concerns, he doesn’t care, even though many, many Democrats – important people in the Democratic Party – many senators are distancing themselves.”
McCormick said Casey “doesn’t see any cognitive decline” or “is part of this essential conspiracy of silence where there are people rallying around Biden to protect him for purely political purposes.”
“I can’t imagine he doesn’t notice the decline,” McCormick said. “He is traveling with Biden. … That’s who he’s had a 30-year relationship with.”
When asked about Biden’s poor standing in the polls, Casey took aim at McCormick on Tuesday, saying his daily focus is making sure “people know the difference between my opponent and me,” expressing a willingness to go after McCormick. business registration It is questions about your residence.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Casey declined to offer Biden any advice on how he should handle growing calls for him to drop out of the race.
“I don’t give advice to candidates because I don’t like receiving it from other candidates”, he joked. “It’s kind of my rule.”
As Casey supported Biden and rallied behind him, his colleagues often took another path.
Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., Did not attend an event with the president last week in his home state. Sens. Jon Tester, D-Mont., and Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, two of the most vulnerable Democrats facing re-election this fall, expressed concerns that Biden could not win at a closed-door Democratic political lunch this week , said a source familiar with the discussion. And the New York Times reported that Rep. Elissa Slotkin, the front-runner to be the Democratic Senate candidate in Michigan, told donors that Biden was falling behind in her state.
“I don’t understand why everyone won’t be proud to campaign with the president,” Fetterman, who attended the church event with Biden and Casey last weekend, told NBC News on Tuesday, adding that he was “proud.” of campaigning alongside Biden in the 2022 midterm elections, when many felt the president would drag Democrats down. “And we won by 5 points.”
Representative Brendan Boyle, Democrat of Pennsylvania, who was also present at Biden’s campaign event in Philadelphia, declined to comment on how Casey should handle the political turmoil surrounding Biden, but said he was “confident” the senator would be reelected.
As for Biden, Boyle was aligned with his congressional delegation.
“I’m always proud to be by his side on clear and stormy days,” he told NBC News on Tuesday. “He has an excellent record that will go down in the history books. He’s also a personal friend and I wanted to make sure I was there with him on Sunday.”
Asked Tuesday why he was willing to campaign with Biden over the weekend, Casey gave a curt answer as the Senate elevator door closed.
“I’ve done this before,” he said.
This story originally appeared on NBCNews.com read the full story
