(The Center Square) — In the battleground of Bucks County on Wednesday, Republican Senate Candidate Dave McCormick focused on the rising cost of living.
“Families and businesses are hurting,” McCormick told a few dozen supporters crammed into the Bensalem Farmers Market and Deli. “It’s been devastating, the last three and a half years, for Pennsylvania.”
He repeated his criticism of incumbent Democratic Sen. Bob Casey as an out-of-touch liberal who would leave Pennsylvania worse off if he wins a fourth term.
“We’ve got these extreme liberal policies of Harris and Bob Casey to thank; their reckless spending has pushed inflation, prices through the roof,” McCormick said. “They’ve unleashed trillions of dollars — trillions, with a ‘t’ — of wasteful federal spending that’s overstimulated our economy. That’s what’s driving up the prices at the pump, the prices here.”
A Muhlenberg College/Morning Call poll also released Wednesday found Casey leading McCormick 46-42 among likely voters with a 6% margin of error. The Senate challenger is lagging former President Donald Trump, who is tied with Vice President Kamala Harris at 48% support.
The poll found that voters see the economy and inflation as the most important issue (35%), followed by abortion (13%) and immigration (11%). McCormick focused almost exclusively on the economy, tying Casey and Harris to the degradation of the economy if they win.
“They supported policies that have blocked economic mobility, the ability to get ahead — that is the American dream,” he said. “The ability to buy a house, the ability to have a great job and more than get by.”
The candidate implored that crowd to vote for Casey and Harris if they’re happy with the status quo, but to cast the ballot for him if they think the state is in trouble.
“This economic mismanagement, this failure of imagination, is crushing Pennsylvanians — and we have to stop it,” McCormick said.
Paul Singh, owner of the farmers market, argued that the state needs a leader who understands small and big businesses.
“My father, God bless his soul, immigrated here from Greece to follow the American dream,” he said. “Dad didn’t come here for free handouts — he came here for the opportunity this country offered everyone who put the hard work in so he can provide for his family.”
“Everyone we know is feeling the burden of high prices,” said Sarah Oziminski, a new mother who warned of the cost of childcare and baby formula.
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders also made an appearance, calling McCormick her “great friend” as she disparaged Casey, Harris, and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz for making life harder and more challenging.
McCormick vowed to cut excessing spending and reduce regulations while supporting “fair trade,” which included tariffs.
“We can’t have trade that’s not fair, that’s hurting businesses in Pennsylvania,” he said.
A number of local elected leaders and state politicians joined McCormick and were optimistic about his campaign.
“The real difference with Casey as senator — he’s served a long time, but people can’t look at their life and say it’s better,” Sen. Frank Farry, R-Langhorne, said.
He believes McCormick will show up in Pennsylvania more than Casey, like the lawn signs in his district.
“I’m seeing a lot more Republican signs, specifically Trump signs, and I know four years ago, people were afraid to put them up,” Farry said. “The amount of signs I see out now, including large 4x8s in people’s yards, is a lot and it’s really sending a message … four years in this economy has caused a lot of folks to change their minds.”
Political ads have also changed voters’ minds, but not in a positive way — for either candidate.
“The intensive negative campaign ads permeating the state likely (impacted) voter images of these candidates,” the Muhlenberg College poll noted.
Casey’s favorability rating dropped from 39% in April to 33% in September, while unfavorable went from 33% to 38%. McCormick’s favorability rating held steady at 28%, but his unfavorability rating jumped from 26% to 38%.
