2 weeks Ago By Albert R. Hunt
There is so much money sloshing around American politics that it may not matter. But there’s a new test of whether money can buy you political love underway right now in Pennsylvania , where the ultra rich are pouring in many millions to back Republican Dave McCormick , the former CEO of a major hedge fund who is running for U.S.
Senate. The all-star team of economic royalists who have joined forces against the three-term Democratic incumbent, Bob Casey , includes Chicago-based hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin; New York-based private equity billionaire Stephen Schwarzman and hedge fund billionaire Paul Singer; the powerful political action network founded by the billionaire Koch brothers ; and billionaire pro-gambler-turned-private-equity-investor Jeff Yass , one of the biggest GOP donors of 2024 – and the only one of these Republican mega donors who actually lives in Pennsylvania. Keystone Renewal , the billionaires’ new political action vehicle for McCormick, is expected to spend up to $100 million on one of their own whom they believe will protect their interests.
McCormick supports extending the 2017 tax cuts for the wealthy – a move that will save each of these uber-wealthy men millions of dollars over the next decade at the expense of American taxpayers, adding an estimated $2 trillion to the national debt , according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. Although Casey and affiliated Democratic groups have been outraising McCormick and his supporters, the entry of these fat cats into the race will dwarf that advantage, making it the most expensive Senate race of the year. The former CEO of Bridgewater needs help, and it’s perhaps fitting that that help is coming from outside.
He was born in Pennsylvania, but has spent the last 15 years in Connecticut running a hedge fund that invested heavily in boosting the Chinese military. He ran for the Senate two years ago and lost in the primary. There is no state more central to the 2024 election than swing state Pennsylvania , which is literally a keystone for either party.
Casey must win for the Democrats to have any chance to hold the Senate majority . And whichever presidential candidate clinches the Keystone State would have a major leg up in clinching the necessary 270 electoral votes to reach the Oval Office. Polls – of which there are plenty – show Vice President Kamala Harris with a slight lead among Pennsylvania voters after trouncing former President Donald Trump in the debate in Philadelphia last week.
Casey generally runs three or four points ahead of her. Harris and Casey need to replicate the huge 2020 Democratic margin in the Philadelphia suburbs and at least match the overwhelmingly Democratic, but hard to turn out, Black vote in the city. Republicans need to improve Trump's margins in the non-college educated, white working-class counties in western and northeastern Pennsylvania.
After President Joe Biden withdrew from the race in July, the McCormick team aimed their fire at Harris and her erstwhile left-wing positions – among them, a softer tone on immigration, as well as her support for Medicare for All – from her unsuccessful presidential run in 2019. But the target has now shifted to Casey. Predictably, the attacks are on immigration, a porous border and the high cost of living, which McCormick blames on Biden's big spending.
Casey has good responses. He supports the tough, bipartisan border control bill that would have passed if Trump had not ordered congressional Republicans to quash it. On the cost of living, Casey has been crusading for a year against price gouging – "greedflation," as he calls it – and accusing companies of reducing the size of packages without reducing the prices, better known as "shrinkflation.
" McCormick has a good resume: wealthy businessman, Gulf War veteran and top Treasury official in the George W. Bush administration. But he also has political baggage – namely, trying to overcome the carpetbagger label.
He spent 15 years in Connecticut before moving back to Pennsylvania. This is magnified by his gaffes: When he mispronounces Yuengling , Pennsylvania's top beer maker, or confuses Philadelphia, Mississippi , with the City of Brotherly Love. Or his attempts to present himself as a farmer.
(His family farm raised luxury Arabian horses.) Under McCormick’s leadership, Bridgewater invested hundreds of millions in Chinese companies making planes, ships and other military items. This complicates his efforts to echo Trump's China bashing.
The abortion issue in this race is fraught with irony. Casey's father was the governor of Pennsylvania from 1987 to 1995, and was ardently anti-abortion, because of his Catholic faith. Initially, the son followed suit, but his position has since evolved, and he's stepping up the criticism of McCormick on abortion.
In his Senate race two years ago, McCormick, playing to the party's right wing, praised ending abortion rights and said the only exception to a ban should be for the life of the mother. Again, following the leader, Trump, McCormick now says he thinks abortion decisions should be left to the states . Casey would have this race sewn up, Democrats believe, if it weren't for the barrage of attack ads paid for by Keystone Renewal in the closing weeks.
But they may have a card that trumps (sorry) Griffin and his pack of hedge fund billionaires’ money: Taylor Swift, a native Pennsylvanian, who last week endorsed Harris . I'm usually skeptical of celebrity endorsements, but Swift has a huge following – 284 million Instagram followers. The day after she posted her endorsement, more than 400,000 people went to the federal government's vote.
gov , though we don’t know yet how many registered. Swift is especially popular with young voters and suburbanites, both of whom Harris needs to turn out for her in the Keystone State. After the pop star endorsed Harris, Trump thundered on social media, “ I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT! ” If Republicans sound nervous, they probably should be.
Washington columnist Albert R. Hunt has covered U.S.
politics and presidential campaigns since 1972, previously for the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg News and the International New York Times. You can listen to his weekly podcast and read more on Substack ..
