Sen. Robert P. Casey Jr., a Pennsylvania Democrat facing reelection this year in a state that narrowly voted to put Donald Trump in the White House, was the sort of senator Republicans hoped would vote against their bill to fund the government late Friday.
Casey obliged — and his likely 2018 opponent, recruited by Trump, wasted no time accusing him of voting to “put illegal immigrants over health insurance for our kids.”
But Casey scoffed at the barb, accusing Republicans of cynically adding an extension of the Children’s Health Insurance Program to the bill for political leverage — all for a spending deal that doesn’t provide a long-term road map for military spending, the opioid crisis or “dreamers,” the young immigrants brought to the United States illegally as children.
“They don’t give a damn about these kids,” Casey said. “If they gave a damn, they would have gotten it done in September, or October, or November, or December . . . now, suddenly, they have a newfound love for CHIP?”
As the blame game launched following the shutdown of the U.S. government at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, it quickly and ferociously began playing out on perhaps the most contentious battlefield of the 2018 midterms: the Senate races where Democrats are seeking reelection in states that Trump won.
Six such Democrats voted against the spending bill in the Senate late Friday. But the vote divided the party, with five Senate Democrats, all from Trump states, voting to avoid a government shutdown — and setting up a fight over what Republicans have tried to brand “the Schumer Shutdown,” after Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.).
At 12:38 a.m. Saturday, the National Republican Senatorial Committee sent out an email blast against Casey, whose leading opponent, Rep. Lou Barletta, is considered a top prospect for helping the GOP pick up a Senate seat.
“Bob Casey had to choose between doing what’s best for Pennsylvania and playing partisan games, and he chose the latter,” NRSC spokesman Bob Salera wrote in the blast. “By voting against extending CHIP, critical funding for our troops and programs families rely on, Casey is once again proving that his loyalty lies with his liberal colleagues in Washington, not with Pennsylvania.”
The NRSC sent a nearly identical attack against Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio). And Debbi Stabenow (D-Mich.). And Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.). And Jon Tester (D-Mont.). And Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.).
And even before the vote Friday, the American Action Network, a group aligned with House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.), announced a national TV ad buy accusing “the Pelosi liberals” of “jeopardizing funding for our troops and jeopardizing funding for health care for millions of American children.”
Democrats, who knew the attacks were coming, have responded with videos and online ads that point to the president’s 2013 and 2017 quotes about how a shutdown might be good for Republicans. Priorities USA, a Democratic super PAC, started a seven-figure digital ad buy targeting swing seats, showing images of foreign threats and worried families.
“What’s President Trump up to?” asks a narrator in the ad. “He says our country needs a good government shutdown.”