Casey clock ticks ... toward 2016 (Specter: "Well, he could be president")

The Times-Tribune (Scranton PA) ^ | 12/19/2009 | RODERICK RANDOM

[Born Conservative]

Bob Casey for president.

Sounds crazy, right?

Yep, sounds crazy.

Except that former Republican U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum is thinking about running for president, and Mr. Casey clobbered him in 2006.

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is running for president - she's pretending she's not - and she never finished her term as governor.

Mr. Casey finished eight years as auditor general, though he didn't finish his term as treasurer because he won the Senate seat. So she's not the only one who can run for the highest office in the land without finishing a term.

Ha-ha.

Nothing points to Mr. Casey running for president.

Everybody says things like this: He's only halfway through his first term as a senator so it's too early to think that way; he dismisses such talk; he's too soft-spoken, too meek, too deferential to his superiors in the Senate; he hasn't accomplished much, and no one thinks of him as a presidential hopeful.

Well, one guy does.

"Where do you think he's going to end up?" we asked Sen. Arlen Specter recently.

"Well, he could be president," Mr. Specter said.

"No, come on," we responded.

"I'm serious," he replied.

"Why?" we asked.

"Well, because he's young, and very experienced in state government and federal government," the senator from Philadelphia said. "And there are lot of people in the Senate who run for president. You look around the chamber and lots of people, not only (Sen. John) Kerry and (Sen. John) McCain, but (former Sen. Joe) Biden ran for president, (former Sen. Al) Gore ran for president ... was vice president ... I can think of one other fellow who would be a presidential prospect. Only two come readily to mind. I'm not going to tell you the other."

Mr. Specter, a smart politician, might be trying to praise Mr. Casey because no one is more of a dyed-in-the-wool "D" in Pennsylvania than the senator from the Hill Section. The newly minted Democratic senator needs Casey voters to like him for re-election next year.

Or maybe he's taking advantage of a small-town newspaper columnist's perceived gullibility.

Of course, if you supported Mr. Casey, maybe you're thinking, "Well, if George W. Bush could be president ..."

What was that famous line the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy used during his 1968 presidential campaign?

"Some men see things as they are and say, 'Why?' I dream of things that never were and say, 'Why not?' "

That's the thing.

Why not Bob Casey for president?

Maybe some locals are thinking like we did: "Come on, a guy from Scranton as president?"

Why not?

Remember, that Biden guy from Scranton ran for president. He didn't make it, but he's sitting pretty now, isn't he?

That's part of Pennsylvania's problem: We see things as they are and never dream they could be different.

A while ago, we heard Mayor Chris Doherty say it elsewhere: We don't think big around here.

Mr. Doherty's run for governor was greeted with great skepticism by some who thought, "Who does he think he is? He isn't ready."

No one thinks Mr. Casey is ready if the presidential election were today, but it's not. If he's re-elected to the Senate in 2012 - the same year good friend Barack Obama is up for re-election - he'll have 10 years in the Senate by 2016, the presidential election after that.

Maybe Mr. Casey isn't thinking about running for president, but he's gaining experience that could help a presidential bid.

He's been on the Senate Agriculture Committee since he took office in January 2007. You know where they have a lot of farms? Iowa, home to the first-in-the-nation presidential contests.

This year, Mr. Casey talked his way onto the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee - what's more important to Americans than their health? - and into the chairmanship of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee subcommittee that deals with the Middle East.

You know the criticism a lot of presidential candidates hear when they first decide they want to run?

What do they know about foreign policy? Mrs. Palin's foreign policy missteps transformed her forever into an idiot in the minds of many.

A frequent criticism of Mr. Casey is that he benefited from his father's name, and he admits it's true.

That same father, the late Gov. Robert P. Casey, started up a presidential campaign committee once.

Gov. Casey would have run against President Bill Clinton in 1996, but his struggles to recover from his heart-liver transplant thwarted him.

Like father, like son. Don't rule it out.

Yeah, it's crazy to think this guy from Scranton could try to move out of the Capitol down the street to the White House.

For now.

BORYS KRAWCZENIUK, Times-Tribune politics reporter, writes Random Notes.

[freespirited]

I’m not under the impression that Casey is all that bright. Especially his vote to continue supporting ACORN when most RATS were running from it.

[tet68]

“Where do you think he’s going to end up?” we asked Sen. Arlen Specter recently.

“Well, he could be president,” Mr. Specter said.

“No, come on,” we responded.

“Ok, all joking aside, he probably will be
lynched from a lamp post once the snow is cleared
in Washington along with myself and others.

I’m serious,” he replied.

[Impy]

Casey is too stupid to be elected President.

Even that traitor scum Specter should know that.

[Yorlik803]

Same here. Casey couldnt tie his own shoes without a diagram and a video. The reason he beat Rick was the backlash against the GOP. I watched one of the debates and Casey looked like a babbling jerk. He made Barney Fife look presidental.

[lentulusgracchus]

The bar has been lowered to the gutter, this idiot, like scores of other idiots could win.

No more calls, please, no more calls -- we have a winner!

Unfortunately.

[lentulusgracchus]

I’m stuck with Specter, Casey and “Fast Eddie” Rendell.

And unfortunately, it also looks like you're stuck with the ink-stained moron who wrote this POS column.

Notice that he can slag Sarah Palin for not "finishing" her term as governor of Alaska, while failing to notice that Barry Soetoro stopped by the U.S. Senate just long enough, as someone said, to pick up directions to the White House. Oh -- and Barry may not be a "natural-born citizen", but hey. "He's so good on the issues!"

[Plumres]

I live in Pennsylvania and Casey is a joke! When his name comes up it is usually associated with the joke the last time we saw him his face was on a milk carton! Back in the spring, I saw the only poll on him and his approval rating was 30%.

[GOPsterinMA]

It is unfortunate and really sad at what has happened to our country.

The main problem is that too many people in this country vote for a living. The government employees (Federals, State, Local), the “Drunk Check-ers”, the “Junkie Check-ers” the “Crazy Check-ers” and the idiot moonbats who have money do vote for the same jackasses the leaches vote for.

The absense of reason and common sense can be directly traced back to the infiltration of the public school system and the college/university level by the leftists, IMO. That plays a large part in why we see the voting patterns that we do and the jackass that promises the most handouts usually wins.

[karatemom]

I am stuck with Specter, Casey, Rendell and MURTHA!!!!!

[jwalsh07]

Casey is stupider than Obumbler.

[penowa]

So I can tell you first hand that Casey is a POS Dem, who licks Obama’s boots, and toes the liberal line like a good little boy.

You forgot to mention with an IQ below room temperature with the air conditioning running on maximum non-stop.

[maxwellsmart_agent]

Casey will kill his chances for any of this if he votes for Obama’s ‘abortion’ driven Health Care Bill. He is showing that he lied about being pro-life. That lie will take him out if he votes for this bill with all the abortion money in it. If he goes that way, he’s done!