In Pennsylvania’s Senate race, McCormick elevates Israel-Hamas war in bid for Jewish voters

HARRISBURG, Pa. – A Republican operating for the U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania is escalating complaint of Democrats over the Israel-Hamas war and has traveled to the Israel-Gaza border to make the case that the Biden management hasn’t subsidized Israel strongly sufficient because the Oct. 7 assault via Hamas.

The complaint via GOP candidate David McCormick displays the sophisticated political problem dealing with each President Joe Biden and incumbent Democratic Sen. Bob Casey in a state Democrats can not have the funds for to lose in 2024.

Biden, who is looking for a 2d time period as president, has been criticized from the left for being too pro-Israel in his reaction to its war on Hamas and for no longer doing sufficient to deal with the burgeoning humanitarian disaster amongst Palestinians in Gaza.

McCormick’s assaults echo the ones voiced at the GOP’s presidential campaign trail the place applicants have portrayed Biden’s coverage on Iran — a key monetary backer of Hamas — as too vulnerable to frighten what the U.S. calls the arena’s main state sponsor of terrorism.

McCormick mentioned the U.S. must impose sanctions to bring to a halt Iran’s oil gross sales and mount a extra muscular reaction to assaults on U.S. objectives in the Middle East to revive an order upended via what he referred to as Biden management errors going again to an incompetent withdrawal from Afghanistan.

“The key to America’s role in the world is peace through strength,” McCormick said in an interview Thursday. “And so I think what we’re seeing is the failure of deterrence. I think what we’re seeing is a belief, across the world, among our adversaries, that America’s a little flat-footed. America’s weak.”

Neither Casey nor McCormick are likely to face serious opposition in Pennsylvania’s April 23 primary before facing off against each other in November’s general election.

McCormick’s focus on the issue comes as a barrage of U.S., coalition and militant attacks in the Middle East are compounding U.S. fears that Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza could expand.

The Biden administration’s support for Israel has been complicated politically in other states the president is counting on in his reelection bid. In Michigan, for example, Democrats worry that losing support among the state’s large Arab-American population over the war could damage their prospects. Michigan also has an open Senate seat on the ballot this year.

Pennsylvania and Michigan, together with Wisconsin, are indispensable portions of a “ blue wall ” of Rust Belt states that helped Biden defeat former President Donald Trump in 2020 after Trump received the ones states in 2016.

In the Senate, Democrats maintain a narrow majority, one that became more perilous late last year with the retirement of West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin. That makes Casey’s seat much more pivotal to his birthday celebration’s efforts to maintain control of the chamber.

McCormick’s effort to highlight his support for Israel is unique thus far in this year’s high-profile Senate contests, and it could become a test case for Republicans in fall general election contests.

McCormick hopes to peel off not only swing voters in Pennsylvania, but also members of the state’s relatively large Jewish community who vote predominantly Democratic — but could make a difference in a close election.

Even though the war has divided both Democrats and Jews, taking votes from Casey poses a formidable challenge. The incumbent senator is well-regarded by Pennsylvania’s Jewish community and has been a reliable ally in Congress for Israel and its fight against Hamas.

Vowing solidarity with Israel, McCormick took a two-day trip to Israel where he visited a kibbutz that was attacked by Hamas and met with government officials, hostage families and survivors of the Oct. 7 attacks.

McCormick, a former hedge fund CEO, told reporters that the fight against Hamas is between “the West versus evil.” He followed the trip with a media blitz and a letter to what his campaign said were tens of thousands of “persuadable” voters in Pennsylvania.

In the letter, McCormick quotes an orthodox rabbi known for his outreach to secular Jews and the Jewish scholar Hillel.

“Israel needs America’s firm and unequivocal support,” McCormick wrote. “Hamas must be destroyed. The lesson of October 7 is clear — the Middle East respects strength and that is why Israel must win. America’s mission must be to help Israel win. It’s that simple.”

McCormick did not mention Casey in the two-page letter. But he separately accused Casey and Biden of “appeasement” of Iran, going back to what he called the “original sin” of Casey’s support for the Iran nuclear deal under President Barack Obama in 2015 that critics say gave Iran the cash it needed to fund terror.

Casey countered that he has fought for years to back Israel in its fight against Hamas and that the Iran nuclear deal had been working — until Trump withdrew the U.S. from the agreement.

“That’s the type of reckless policy my opponent supports,” Casey said in a statement.

On policy, Casey’s and McCormick’s positions on Israel have a lot in common.

They both support military aid to Israel, backing Israel’s mission to destroy Hamas and putting aside allegations of Israeli war crimes, saying they are convinced Israel has gone to great lengths to avoid civilian casualties.

Both have slammed the savagery of the Hamas attack, and accused it of using civilians as human shields. Arab nations that publicly criticize Israel’s counterattack on Gaza privately tell their Israeli, U.S. and European counterparts that they want Hamas gone, Casey said on CBS News’ podcast “The Takeout.”

“They’re all saying, ‘please take out Hamas,’” Casey mentioned.

Casey has no longer joined a few of his Democratic colleagues in calling for a ceasefire, hanging conditions on U.S. military aid to Israel or criticizing Israel for a bombing marketing campaign that the the Hamas-controlled government says has killed greater than 24,000 Palestinians. He additionally has no longer echoed Biden administration unease over the size of Israel’s army operation.

Casey, operating for a fourth-term, is recommended via the fundraising powerhouse, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, and the previous chairman of a Foreign Relations subcommittee at the Middle East has visited Israel six occasions over his 17-year Senate profession.

In contemporary days and weeks, Casey visited a Jewish Community Center in Pittsburgh, attended the “March for Israel” on Washington’s National Mall and spoke at a synagogue in Philadelphia to denounce antisemitism.

For McCormick, international coverage is a energy of his and a cornerstone of his marketing campaign, one thing of a rarity in the present technology. The embellished Army veteran held senior posts in the management of President George W. Bush, together with deputy nationwide safety adviser for global financial coverage, and served on a protection coverage board below Trump.

Republicans see Pennsylvania as a battleground state with an important sufficient Jewish inhabitants — round 400,000, via their estimate — to swing an election determined via tens of hundreds of votes.

For Jewish voters, Israel isn’t the one factor they care about, however this can be a upper precedence after the assault via Hamas, mentioned Christopher Borick, director of the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion in Allentown.

Jewish voters usually vote overwhelmingly Democratic, and Democrats presently are looking to steadiness their pastime in protective Israel with that of more youthful voters, who’ve been sympathetic to Palestinians, he mentioned.

“That’s something, of course, Democrats have to address in keeping their coalition together,” Borick mentioned. “Jewish voters have been one of their most loyal supporter groups. Although not a gigantic segment of the population, it’s nonetheless crucial given the nature of tight elections in Pennsylvania.”

___

Follow Marc Levy at http://twitter.com/timelywriter