Bob Casey No Longer Represents Pennsylvanians

As you may have learned in school, if you put a frog in boiling water, the frog will leap out. But, if you put the frog in room-temperature water, and slowly raise the heat over time, the frog will eventually be boiled.

I see U.S. Sen. Bob Casey as the “frog” that Pennsylvanians sent to Washington after the 2006 election. He may not have consciously realized how different his surroundings in the D.C. Democratic Party had become and how comfortable he was. He didn’t jump out of the warm, swampy Senate. He didn’t lower the temperature. He just got boiled.

The Bob Casey of 2006 – even the Casey of his reelections in 2012 or 2018 – exists no more.

In 2006, Casey appeared on “Meet The Press,” and, in reference to his incumbent opponent, said: “When you have two politicians that agree 98% of the time, one of them is really not necessary.”

Today, Casey has voted with the Biden/Harris administration 99% of the time. Maybe it is now Casey himself who “is really not necessary.”

Casey’s facade of independence slowly melted away as the temperature and power of D.C. changed him. That’s assuming he actually meant what he said in 2006.

Casey sought pro-life support in future campaigns, too. And, then, quietly… not so much. (Doing things quietly explains much of Casey’s career.)

In 2024, he and his allies have spent millions attacking his Republican challenger Dave McCormick for being pro-life. In fact, it may be Casey’s most often used attack.

What’s even more cynical – and hypocritical – is that Casey is attacking McCormick, the father of six daughters, for holding personal views virtually identical to those of the late Bob Casey Sr., Sen. Casey’s father and a former two-term governor of Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania’s three-decades-old abortion law remains on the books because Gov. Casey not only signed it but fought all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court to defend it.

But the Democratic and special-interest “dial turners” made the water warmer around Casey – and he grew more and more comfortable. Gone were his pro-life values. Gone was his defense of the Second Amendment. Gone was his independence.

He never announced his new positions, never actually told his fellow Pennsylvanians about his changed thinking. Yes, all people – even politicians – should be open to new ideas, and our positions do evolve. But when your views change almost 180 degrees and you’re a U.S Senator, you owe your constituents an explanation.

And, if there’s an explanation for his 99% loyalty to Harris and Biden, he owes us that, too.

Casey has shown no moment of independence, no instance when he broke with Biden or Harris – not over the border wall, illegal immigration, reckless inflationary spending, rising crime, school choice for parents, or the Covid lockdowns and mandates.

He supported every costly bill in Congress that would pay people not to work – and allowed Pennsylvanians to be fired, even from our armed forces, for not getting the mandated Covid vaccine. He’s even opposed efforts to keep men out of competitive women’s sports.

No independence. No leadership.

With government power growing out of control, our children being used as political pawns, inflation at the grocery store and elsewhere, crime rising in our cities and towns, fentanyl pouring into our schools, illegal immigrants overwhelming small towns, antisemitism raging on college campuses, and the world spinning out of control, maybe we don’t need a “frog” sitting back in the warming, swampy waters of D.C.

Casey has no signature piece of legislation. He has executed no important project in our communities.

He’s a pleasant, quiet, go-along-to-get-along politician. Pennsylvanians need a fighter, an independent voice ready to act on what’s harming our nation, our communities, and our children.

Bob Casey went to Washington two decades ago to change Washington. Instead, Washington changed him.

Guy Ciarrocchi is a writer for RealClear Pennsylvania and Broad+Liberty. He is a former Republican Congressional nominee. These views may not necessarily reflect any of his affiliated organizations. Follow Guy @PaSuburbsGuy