Casey stumps at local picnic

CENTRE HALL -- U.S. Senate candidate Bob Casey rolled his fundraising campaign into Centre County on Saturday, assailing rival Rick Santorum before a crowd of Democratic faithful while raising $8,000 or so at a picnic hosted by former state Rep. Ruth Rudy.

Between bus stops on his "New Direction Tour" in Lewistown and the Clinton County Fair in Mackeyville, Casey spent more than two hours in the midst of the Rudy farm cornfields, calling Santorum a "rubber stamp machine" for President Bush.

Casey said Santorum, rather than asking "tough questions" about effective body armor for troops and troop strength in general in Iraq, has instead questioned the press, in particular the attention the media give to the number of U.S. casualties.

"He (Santorum) was worried that the president wasn't getting good press on Iraq, that they weren't reporting the war in the right way," Casey said. "I don't really give a damn about whether or not George Bush has a good press day on Iraq. I care about supporting the troops."

Casey spoke to about 175 people gathered under a tent on Rudy's front lawn. Most of them paid $50 each to hear and later chat with the state treasurer, former auditor general, former candidate for the Democratic nomination for governor and son of Bob Casey Sr., governor from 1987 to 1995. About 40 people paid $250 each for a small-group session with Casey inside Rudy's home.

Casey attacked Santorum for supporting subsidies for "big oil," for supporting trade deals that cost American jobs and for being Bush's "number one cheerleader" for privatization of Social Security.

"That scheme was about enriching Wall Street -- we are not going to do that in the United States of America," Casey said. "We deserve a senator with the guts and the integrity to be truly independent."

Rather than work the crowd after his 25-minute stump speech, the crowd worked Casey, standing in line for an hour or so for an individual chat.

Sierra Club volunteer Nancy Parks asked him to support the club's drive to reduce mercury pollution by pushing the Bush administration to make industries use the best technology to reduce mercury emissions, and Ferguson Township resident Ralph Matis warned Casey that Santorum will come after him hard. "I told him he's got to be really aggressive because the Republicans are going to use everything they can to try to beat him," Matis said. "That's the attack -- that he's weak -- and he's not weak."

Casey's lead over Santorum in the polls, once as high as 18 percentage points, has dwindled. A Muhlenberg College survey last week showed 45 percent of 550 voters favored Casey, 39 percent favored Santorum and 16 percent were undecided.

Casey said after his stump speech that the people he has met during his bus tour have raised the issues of Iraq and the economy more than any others.

"I think people really feel that there's been a lack of accountability, and I think they're going to hold Sen. Santorum accountable for his failures in not asking the president and his administration the tough questions," Casey said.

The economic numbers and Bush administration spin may look good on the business pages, Casey said, but the numbers "are not passing the family test" because rising health-care and energy costs and trade imbalances are eating away at incomes. "The people are not feeling it," he said.

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