In Pa., Casey and Smith making final push for U.S. Senate seat

U.S Sen. Bob Casey, the Democratic incumbent in Pennsylvania, is on a campaigning blitz to defend his seat from Republican challenger Tom Smith, who’s making his own final push before Election Day.

At a Republican phone bank in Cumberland County, Tom Smith was there — as a picture on the side of his giant campaign bus, and in the flesh to cheer on the supporters making calls Friday.

“Now it’s in their hands, a lot. And they’re very important,” said Smith. “That’s the grassroots and it’s very important to me that we come out and say hello to them and encourage them, ’cause that’s where this will be won at, in these grassroots.”

Smith says he’s troubled by the size of the national debt and the amount of deficit spending.

Casey says his own record reflects that he’s not afraid to vote to cut spending.

“I voted for $1 trillion in spending cuts,” he said. “I’ll vote for more, but I’m not going to vote for spending cuts that devastate the middle class.”

Casey repeatedly refers to Smith as having a radical agenda.

Smith says his supporters don’t see it that way.

“No matter where I travel in Pennsylvania, what people want to talk about, and these people are no different, is jobs and the economy. And that is what this election’s about,” he said. “And I brought forth a plan to grow the economy. That’s what I’ve done since I was 19 years old, run businesses.”

Casey says he’s worked on legislation that keeps an eye out for the middle class, such as a trade adjustment assistance bill which became law as part of a larger trade package.

He also points to his good working relationship with Pennsylvania’s Republican junior U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey.

“Whether it’s on working together to recommend judges to the administration, whether it’s working to make changes to the health care bill, which we’ve done together,” Casey said.

The final Franklin & Marshall College poll before the election showed support for Casey stabilizing, with the incumbent up by nine points among likely Pennsylvania voters.