Sen. Bob Casey’s refusal to concede the election is damaging the citizens of Pennsylvania.
Republican Dave McCormick defeated the three-term incumbent in an upset one week ago.
Casey initially refused to concede the election until the commonwealth hand-counted all the Nov. 5 ballots from GOP-majority Cambria County.
An Election Day computer problem necessitated the use of paper ballots and hand counting, and as the votes were counted and recorded in Cambria Wednesday and Thursday, McCormick’s lead grew, leading even the Associated Press to call the race Thursday.
Casey next turned to the canvassing of provisional ballots as his rationale for refusing to accept the reality of his defeat.
In Pennsylvania, the canvassing of provisional ballots is a slow, arcane process that can differ county by county.
McCormick maintains about a 35,000-vote lead over Casey as of this writing.
And while hope springs eternal, the number of provisional ballots remaining to be counted and McCormick’s consistently large margin across the commonwealth lead to the inescapable conclusion: Mighty Sen. Casey has struck out.
Dave McCormick will maintain a significant lead when all the provisional ballots are counted.
Under Pennsylvania law, if the margin is less than 0.5%, an automatic recount will be triggered at an expense of about $2 million to taxpayers.
But the cost isn’t just financial; it’s also taking valuable time and attention away from McCormick he should be devoting to creating the best possible transition into office to serve the people of Pennsylvania.
Why, then, does our senior senator refuse to concede?
Perhaps this is all about money, for throughout the post-election period, Casey and the Democratic National Committee have sent a flurry of fundraising emails earnestly imploring would-be donors, “If we’re going to send Bob Casey back to the Senate and hold the line for our rights and freedoms, we need your immediate support to ensure that every last vote in this PA Senate race is counted.”
Given that Casey sent this email on Saturday, Nov. 9, his refusal to concede may be helping the senator and the DNC raise funds to pay bills and/or extinguish campaign debt.
It’s worth noting that nowhere in this predatory email is a mention of the vote count, the remaining provisional ballots or the mathematical improbability of anything other than that Dave McCormick is Pennsylvania’s senator-elect.
Casey has two erstwhile partners in this race to the bottom — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Democrat “superlawyer” Marc Elias.
Yes, that Marc Elias, the man behind the Steele dossier, two years of Russiagate and a reputation of wasting time and hoovering up money in election-related litigation.
Schumer’s contribution to this folly was his initial refusal to invite Senator-elect McCormick to the orientation for new senators, and this is where Casey’s refusal to concede truly hurts Pennsylvanians.
Having run statewide in Pennsylvania twice and having supported Republican candidates and elected officials for more than two decades, I know our public servants are, at the heart, people before anything else.
The first impressions, shared experiences and conversations that are part of any orientation are critical for our senator-elect as he seeks to represent us in Washington.
Interpersonal relationships go a long way for everyone, but especially in politics.
Attempting to deny McCormick the ability to attend orientations was a distraction and a threat to impede McCormick’s opportunity to advocate amongst his new colleagues for laws and policies that benefit Pennsylvania.
Schumer’s initial refusal to allow McCormick to participate in this important rite of passage was therefore an affront to all Pennsylvanians.
Casey’s refusal to put aside his hurt and help with McCormick’s transition to the Senate is likewise an affront to the constituents he has served for almost 30 years in statewide office.
If Casey’s behavior causes McCormick to miss out on a key staff hire or a crucial committee assignment, his pettiness goes from petulant to vindictive and ultimately damaging.
For his legacy, and more important for the good of our fellow Pennsylvanians, Casey must do the right thing and concede.
After a long and grueling campaign that tested each man’s character under intense scrutiny, the people of Pennsylvania made a choice on Election Day between Bob Casey and Dave McCormick.
How Casey is behaving provides further proof of why the majority of Pennsylvanians decided McCormick is the right man to represent our commonwealth going forward.
Jeff Bartos is a Republican strategist from Pennsylvania.
Twitter: @Jeff_Bartos
