S
Shevek
Guest
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/03/28/the-casey-endorsement/
In a surprise move, Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania has endorsed
Senator Barack Obama in advance of the April 22 Democratic primary. Mr.
Casey had said he would remain neutral in the race in part because he
wanted to help broker a reconciliation between Mr. Obama and Senator
Hillary Rodham Clinton afterward.
“I believe in my heart that there is one person who’s uniquely qualified
to lead us in that new direction and that is Barack Obama.” Mr. Casey
said during a rally in Pittsburgh Friday.
“I really believe that in a time of danger around the world and in
division here at home, Barack Obama can lead us, he can heal us, he can
help rebuild America,” he said.
Mr. Casey is going against the grain in his state, where polls show Mrs.
Clinton ahead by at least 12 percentage points and where she has the
endorsement of most of the state’s major Democratic figures.
But a person close to Mr. Casey said that the Senator had traveled to
Florida over Easter and that rain had forced him to stay inside and he
began to think more seriously about an endorsement. “He spent a lot of
time thinking about it,” this person said, and he came to the conclusion
that the race was “too important” to remain on the sidelines.
“He was asking himself, what’s more important than this?” the person
said. “He was also just terribly frustrated with where Bush is going on
Iraq and the economy and he felt he had to jump into the fray.”
Mr. Casey said that he called Mrs. Clinton last night to tell her of his
decision. “She was very gracious. We know that she’s a great senator,
she’s a great leader,” he said, Friday. He is joining Mr. Obama today as
he begins a six-day bus trip across Pennsylvania and plans to be with
him for about three days as Mr. Obama meets up with just the kind of
blue collar, Catholic men who have eluded Mr. Obama.
Mr. Casey won the state in 2006 with 59 percent of the vote. The fact
that he is a strong opponent of abortion rights may give these voters
cover to back Mr. Obama both now and in the fall against Senator John
McCain, the putative Republican nominee, who also opposes abortion rights.
Both Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama had raised money and campaigned for Mr.
Casey when he ran for the Senate in 2006. Both also initially lobbied
Mr. Casey themselves, and then through third parties, but they retreated
after they understood that he wanted to remain neutral.
Mr. Casey decided to back Mr. Obama because of his “ability to bring
disparate groups together and transcend some of these racial and other
kinds of divides,” the person close to him said. “Also, his kids were on
his case, his four daughters. Not that they dictate to him, but he was
paying attention. He was wondering, why are these kids, who aren’t very
political, so interested? He does have the ability to light up a younger
generation.”
Mr. Casey’s father, the state’s former governor, had a chilly
relationship with Mrs. Clinton’s husband dating from Mr. Clinton’s first
campaign for president in 1992. The elder Mr. Casey was strongly against
abortion rights and did not approve of Mr. Clinton, who in turn shut Mr.
Casey out of the Democratic convention. Another long-time Casey ally
said that during the 1992 campaign, Mr. Casey refused to attend a dinner
in his home county, Lackawanna, where Mrs. Clinton was campaigning for
her husband. On election night in 1992, Mrs. Clinton closely tracked the
results in Lackawanna, which her husband won.
But several people who know Mr. Casey and Mrs. Clinton say that the
family bitterness has dissipated and was not a factor at all in Mr.
Casey’s endorsement of Mr. Obama.
There is also some family warmth between Mr. Obama and the Casey family.
At an event on St. Patrick’s Day in Scranton, Mr. Obama gave a shout-out
to “my wonderful friend” Margie Casey McGrath, who is Mr. Casey’s sister
and runs a big printing company, Universal Printing, in Scranton. The
company prints numerous political material for candidates, including Mr.
Obama.
--
Shevek
In a surprise move, Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania has endorsed
Senator Barack Obama in advance of the April 22 Democratic primary. Mr.
Casey had said he would remain neutral in the race in part because he
wanted to help broker a reconciliation between Mr. Obama and Senator
Hillary Rodham Clinton afterward.
“I believe in my heart that there is one person who’s uniquely qualified
to lead us in that new direction and that is Barack Obama.” Mr. Casey
said during a rally in Pittsburgh Friday.
“I really believe that in a time of danger around the world and in
division here at home, Barack Obama can lead us, he can heal us, he can
help rebuild America,” he said.
Mr. Casey is going against the grain in his state, where polls show Mrs.
Clinton ahead by at least 12 percentage points and where she has the
endorsement of most of the state’s major Democratic figures.
But a person close to Mr. Casey said that the Senator had traveled to
Florida over Easter and that rain had forced him to stay inside and he
began to think more seriously about an endorsement. “He spent a lot of
time thinking about it,” this person said, and he came to the conclusion
that the race was “too important” to remain on the sidelines.
“He was asking himself, what’s more important than this?” the person
said. “He was also just terribly frustrated with where Bush is going on
Iraq and the economy and he felt he had to jump into the fray.”
Mr. Casey said that he called Mrs. Clinton last night to tell her of his
decision. “She was very gracious. We know that she’s a great senator,
she’s a great leader,” he said, Friday. He is joining Mr. Obama today as
he begins a six-day bus trip across Pennsylvania and plans to be with
him for about three days as Mr. Obama meets up with just the kind of
blue collar, Catholic men who have eluded Mr. Obama.
Mr. Casey won the state in 2006 with 59 percent of the vote. The fact
that he is a strong opponent of abortion rights may give these voters
cover to back Mr. Obama both now and in the fall against Senator John
McCain, the putative Republican nominee, who also opposes abortion rights.
Both Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama had raised money and campaigned for Mr.
Casey when he ran for the Senate in 2006. Both also initially lobbied
Mr. Casey themselves, and then through third parties, but they retreated
after they understood that he wanted to remain neutral.
Mr. Casey decided to back Mr. Obama because of his “ability to bring
disparate groups together and transcend some of these racial and other
kinds of divides,” the person close to him said. “Also, his kids were on
his case, his four daughters. Not that they dictate to him, but he was
paying attention. He was wondering, why are these kids, who aren’t very
political, so interested? He does have the ability to light up a younger
generation.”
Mr. Casey’s father, the state’s former governor, had a chilly
relationship with Mrs. Clinton’s husband dating from Mr. Clinton’s first
campaign for president in 1992. The elder Mr. Casey was strongly against
abortion rights and did not approve of Mr. Clinton, who in turn shut Mr.
Casey out of the Democratic convention. Another long-time Casey ally
said that during the 1992 campaign, Mr. Casey refused to attend a dinner
in his home county, Lackawanna, where Mrs. Clinton was campaigning for
her husband. On election night in 1992, Mrs. Clinton closely tracked the
results in Lackawanna, which her husband won.
But several people who know Mr. Casey and Mrs. Clinton say that the
family bitterness has dissipated and was not a factor at all in Mr.
Casey’s endorsement of Mr. Obama.
There is also some family warmth between Mr. Obama and the Casey family.
At an event on St. Patrick’s Day in Scranton, Mr. Obama gave a shout-out
to “my wonderful friend” Margie Casey McGrath, who is Mr. Casey’s sister
and runs a big printing company, Universal Printing, in Scranton. The
company prints numerous political material for candidates, including Mr.
Obama.
--
Shevek
