Do Nothing Bob

Last week I expressed my opinions about the important presidential race.  But there is another race that is almost as important, the race for senator in Pennsylvania.  While who is president is certainly important, who controls the house and the senate may be even more important.  This year Senator Bob Casey is running for reelection and little is being said about that race.  Part of the problem is that his competition, Tom Smith, is not very well known.  Casey got the job originally because of his name.  His father had been governor of Pennsylvania and was well known for his major disagreements with his party, the Democrats, on the issue of abortion.  His dad was pro-life and was ostracized by his party because of his stands.  And Bob Casey was elected into office mainly because of his name.  But he isn't his father.  He has defended and approved Obama's programs and legislation.  To the best of my knowledge he has done nothing important for the state in his six years in office.  And now he wants six more and this time he may get it again because of his name and because he is riding the support for Obama.  He has done almost no campaigning, just like he apparently has done almost nothing of importance while in office.  He had refused to debate the challenger but recently was forced into one.  Even fellow Democrat Ed Rendell has criticized him for running a "non-campaign".  His advertising so far has been criticism of his challenger.  He has labeled him as "Tea Party Tom" and tried to paint him as a radical who will end medicare and social security and cut everything else.  To the best of my knowledge, he has done nothing else to get reelected.  I have not yet seen a single ad which tells of his agenda or accomplishments, maybe because they don't exist. Even his website is filled with negatives about Smith rather than positive plans and goals. I understand that he did make a rare campaign appearance recently and used this speech to directly attack his Republican challenger. However, I understand that he and his party are now running a little scared and so they plan to pump big money into his campaign the last week. We deserve much much more than that from our senators.  It is interesting that Tom Smith has run a new ad which features his mother and shares that he would never cut the benefits for seniors like her.  This contradicts the statements that Casey is promoting to scare voters.  While Smith has also attacked Casey's record, at least he has outlined many of the positive things that he proposes and stands for.  That is refreshing to hear.  He also appears to have been a very successful businessman and that is something our senate could use.  But, unfortunately, "Do Nothing Bob" will probably be swept into office once again by the Democratic majority and that is too bad for Pennsylvania and the nation.  But at least I know one person that won't be fooled by him and his negative campaign.  I will be casting my ballot for Tom Smith.