Swing-state Democrat Casey walks a fine line between his own campaign and turmoil surrounding Biden

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey has a fine line to walk.

He and other Democrats fighting to hang on to hotly contested Senate seats have seemed jittery about the turmoil surrounding President Joe Biden after his disastrous debate performance. In many cases they’re trying to minimize any damage to their own races by saying as little as possible about it in public.

But with control of the Senate on the line, the drama is an unavoidable and unwelcome development for Democrats. They are defending far more Senate seats than Republicans this year, including in the presidential swing states of Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, Nevada and Arizona.

Incumbents in Republican-leaning Montana and Ohio appear nervous, too, and there’s an unexpected challenge in the Democratic stronghold of Maryland from former Republican Gov. Larry Hogan.

The turmoil surrounding Biden is especially delicate for Casey, long seen as one of the safest Democratic bets in battleground races. He has defended Biden, but in the halls of the Capitol this week, even Casey brushed aside questions about how Biden’s predicament might affect his race.

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“I’ve got work I got to do as a senator and as a candidate,” he told The Associated Press. “I’m not going to be a pundit or an analyst. Obviously voters can make up their own minds.”

Casey grew up on the same street as Biden in Scranton. Their families have known each other for decades, and he’s campaigned with Biden countless times, including this year. Biden — a Delaware resident but a Pennsylvania native, as is first lady Jill Biden — has long claimed Pennsylvania as his own.

When Casey’s mother died last year, Biden came to Scranton to pay his respects.

On Sunday, Casey greeted Biden in Philadelphia on the president’s campaign swing through Pennsylvania, attending worship services with him at a predominantly Black church there. Answering reporters’ questions during his own campaign events, Casey has maintained that he supports Biden and was not concerned about his debate flop.

Still, Casey’s backing has lacked the gusto of Pennsylvania’s other Democratic senator, John Fetterman, who told Biden supporters in Pennsylvania that Biden is “the only person that’s ever kicked Trump’s ass in an election.”

Other Democratic incumbents have been less hesitant to set themselves apart from Biden, before and after the debate. Democratic Sens. Jacky Rosen of Nevada, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, Jon Tester of Montana and Sherrod Brown of Ohio have offered little public support for the president since the debate.

Tester and Brown — prime GOP targets in states that Republicans have dominated in recent years — have been distancing themselves from Biden for quite some time.

For Tester, a centrist lawmaker representing a fossil fuel-friendly state, steering clear of national Democrats has long been crucial to his political survival. Most recently, he pushed back against the administration over new pollution rules that could hurt Montana’s energy industry.

Yet Tester has also said that the president himself was doing a good job — comments that his opponent, Republican Tim Sheehy, resurrected in an online campaign ad after Biden’s shaky debate performance.

In a statement this week, Tester adopted a more skeptical stance. He said Biden must “prove to the American people — including me — that he’s up to the job.”

Montana voter Kathryn Natzel, a self-described moderate Democrat, supports Tester for his position on women’s reproductive rights and is clear about her reasoning.

“Don’t tell me what to do with my family,” she said.

But the 29-year-old stay-at-home mother from Billings worries younger voters who cringe at Biden’s age could also turn against Tester as he seeks a fourth term.

“It’s kind of a point against him for younger people,” Natzel said, noting that Tester’s political career spans almost her whole life.

Brown, the Ohio incumbent, was asked repeatedly about Biden on a conference call with reporters Wednesday. The subject of the call was federal rules for hydrogen hubs, but the questions focused heavily on Biden.

Brown acknowledged there are “legitimate questions” about whether Biden should continue his campaign. The senator wouldn’t answer when asked what he told colleagues privately about Biden or if he thought having Biden on the ballot hurts other Democrats, including him. He even refused to answer directly when asked if he supported the president.

“I’m not talking about politics on this call,” Brown said. “I’ve said enough.”

On a campaign swing through Wisconsin, Baldwin told reporters that the “bottom line” is that it’s Biden’s decision on whether to run and that she’s heard a lot from voters and “passed those onto the White House.”

In Pennsylvania, for the most part, Casey has brushed aside questions about how Biden’s predicament might impact his race. But his opponent, former hedge fund CEO David McCormick, is highlighting Casey’s support for Biden. In digital ads, McCormick’s campaign calls Casey the “one man who will never leave Biden.” Clips of Biden calling Casey “one of my best buddies,” “one of my closest friends” and “Bobby Casey” drive home the point.

When he has talked about it, Casey has acknowledged that Biden had a bad night. But at a recent appearance with Biden in Harrisburg, he asserted that voters would ultimately side with Democrats, even in the race for the presidency. He said it comes down to whether candidates support reproductive rights for women, working families rather than billionaires, and voting rights over an insurrection.

“I do think people across the country, they have real a sense of what’s at stake in this race,” he said.

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Associated Press writer Mary Clare Jalonick in Washington contributed to this report. Brown reported from Billings, Montana.