PHILADELPHIA — Pennsylvania GOP Senate hopeful Dave McCormick is upping his campaign game with a new ad released Tuesday that takes aim at his opponent Sen. Bob Casey, tying him closely to the Democrat Party standard bearer Vice President Kamala Harris for her flip-flop on fracking in the energy-rich, industry-dependent state.
The spot is set in a bar and begins with Harris’ infamous “there’s no question I’m in favor of banning fracking” clip from 2019 and then claims that a fracking ban would eliminate 330,640 energy jobs.
It shows Pennsylvania jobs and workers literally disappearing from the screen before panning to McCormick sitting at the now-empty bar.
“Truck drivers, hardworking people like mechanics, even bartenders,” McCormick says as the workers fade into thin air behind him.
“And what’s Bob Casey say about Kamala?” he asks, before the ad shows viewers just that.
“People know that she’s prepared right now to do this job,” Casey says, appearing on the TV in the bar where the ad is set.
“Too weak,” McCormick responds apathetically.
That’s the second time this month McCormick went after Casey for being “weak” — the other was in an ad from earlier this month in which Blair County Sheriff Jim Ott spoke about the fentanyl issue ravaging Pennsylvania communities, which even resulted in the death of his own son to overdose.
“If the border was secure, chances are my son would be alive today,” Ott says in McCormick’s ad.
“We can’t bring back the people we’ve lost,” Ott added. “But we can get rid of the weak politicians like Bob Casey who let it happen.”
Polls in Pennsylvania’s Senate race show Casey — a three-term incumbent — with a narrowing lead as McCormick continues to gain name recognition across the Keystone State.
The race between Casey and McCormick is expected to be the most expensive Senate contest of this election cycle, with TV ad alone spending projected to reach $360 million.