WARRENDALE, Pennsylvania — One hour before Dave McCormick, the Republican Army veteran running for the U.S. Senate seat against Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA), was set to arrive at a Jergel’s Rhythm Grille, a suburban Pittsburgh music venue, the expansive parking lot was spilling out into neighboring businesses and side streets to accommodate the crowd.
Many attendees had to walk several blocks and park on a side street to find a place before heading into Jergel’s, where hundreds of people were there to hear both McCormick and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley make their closing case for his candidacy as well as former Donald Trump’s.
What was interesting wasn’t just the amount of people in attendance, but who they were and where they lived. The suburbs of Allegheny County for the last two statewide election cycles have trended in favor of the Democrats. However, last year as the county and city officials running for office became far left — many got their start in the Democrat Socialists of America — these voters moved substantially more toward the Republican running for Allegheny County’s chief executive.
A deep dive into the numbers showed Sara Inamorato, a Democrat, won narrowly, but she lost major support among suburban voters, and revealed an opportunity for Republican candidates like McCormick to win them.
Sam, who declined to give his last name, was one of them, dressed in jeans and a pullover and standing next to a sign that read “Serbs for Trump.” Holding a bottle of Yeungling, he said he was already on board for McCormick and moved toward supporting Trump on Election Day.
“This for me is an election about changing the status quo. I have voted for Casey in the past but this is the second time I won’t. The last time I sat it out because I had no faith in the Republican running against him,” he said of former congressman Lou Barletta.
“As for Trump, I was unhappy with how he goes off sometimes but honestly, I was doing better financially, and the Democrats just pissed me off with this whole Nazi and fascist thing,” he said. You call him one you are calling all of us one. They did it when I voted for Bush too.”
McCormick laid out his closing message at the rally that included discussing issues that have affected voters of all stripes. “It’s common sense that you can’t spend so much that you drive up skyrocketing prices with inflation,” he said. “It’s common sense if you got the fourth-largest natural gas reserves in the world, you got to unlock it and have energy dominance.”
McCormick also stressed the need for stricter immigration enforcement, pointing out that we also need to balance that with a better immigration system: “We are a nation of immigrants. My amazing wife is an immigrant from Egypt. We’re also a nation of laws. We have to have a secure border.”
Haley, the former governor of South Carolina, stressed the importance of McCormick winning the U.S. Senate seat in Pennsylvania and Trump winning the presidency.
“Dave McCormack can’t win if we don’t elect Donald Trump at the top of the ticket. You may find Trump noisy, but what I will tell you is he understands that we’ve got to get this economy turned around.”
In his closing argument at the event, and the final stretch, McCormick said he sees America’s potential as one where there is a focus on what unites us. He told the story of serving in the Army with a rural soldier from Alabama, a Hispanic soldier from Puerto Rico, and a black soldier from Virginia.
“I never remember talking about religion. I don’t remember talking about race. We sure didn’t talk about politics. Or gender. All we talked about was protecting and taking care of one another when we deployed,” he said of a common sentiment soldiers often reflect on after their service.
Twelve hours later, Casey was in Murrysville in Westmoreland County at the Murrysville Center for Freedom, a local Democrat Club, with fellow Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), wearing an oversized placard dressed with a rainbow and McCormick’s image on it to depict a driver’s license.
Casey, who has served in some statewide elected office since 1996 and in the U.S. Senate since 2007, has stayed his final message rising prices are the fault of corporate greed, not of legislation he voted for that caused inflation.
Calling it “greedflation” and “shrinkflation,” along with warning that McCormick would take away reproductive rights, has been his consistent message throughout this cycle. Democrats insist both are arguments that are making headway but there are two caveats: Abortion is legal in Pennsylvania up until 24 weeks, and the only person who can take that right away would be Josh Shapiro, the Democrat governor who has said repeatedly he would not do that.
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And greedflation and shrinkflation also have a challenge sticking in this state, as 80% of the snacks consumed in this country, in particular pretzels and potato chips, are made in Pennsylvania by Pennsylvania farmers and manufacturers and delivered by local truckers.
This race is tied. If this indeed is a “change election cycle,” McCormick has the edge. If Casey’s constant abortion ads resonate despite the facts, he has the edge. It is a flip of the coin.
This article was originally published at www.washingtonexaminer.com
