Pennsylvania’s Republican Senate nominee, Dave McCormick, accused his opponent, Sen. Bob Casey, of relying on personal attacks due to a lack of accomplishments during his nearly two-decade tenure in the U.S. Senate.
During a recent debate, Casey launched a personal attack on McCormick before he even had a chance to speak, and followed up with another attack during a rebuttal on the topic of Middle East policy. McCormick responded by stating that Casey’s campaign has been marked by a reliance on personal attacks, rather than a focus on his own record.
“When you don’t have a record to run on, you attack your opponent,” McCormick pointed out that he has created a website, Caseylies.com, which highlights what he claims are inaccuracies and falsehoods in Casey’s statements on various issues, including the cost of living, taxes, and social security.
McCormick questioned why a three-term incumbent like Casey would resort to negative attacks, rather than running on his own record. “You should ask yourself, why is a senator with an 18-year track record, who should be able to run on his record, running his entire campaign with a negative set of attacks on me, most of them lies?” he said.
On the topic of Israel policy, McCormick stated that he would not currently send troops to the region, but emphasized the importance of supporting Israel, which he believes is “in the fight for its life.” He also criticized Casey’s vote on funding that he claims provided Iran with $100 billion in sanctioned money, which he alleges has been used to support terrorism.
When asked about the conditions under which he would withdraw his support for Israel, McCormick said that the problem is that the U.S. has not been standing strongly enough with Israel. In contrast, Casey stated that there was no “red line” that would cause him to lose support for Israel, and emphasized that any decision to send troops would require a congressional declaration of war.
