Robert P. Casey Jr.

December 30, 2007

Source: Scranton Times-Tribune

By Borys Krawczeniuk

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A handful of yellow Post-its dot the 25-foot-high mostly blank walls of U.S. Sen. Bob Casey Jr.’s office in the Russell Office Building. Almost a year after joining the world’s greatest deliberative body, the notes are his staff’s simple reminders to hang pictures.

Busy with the duties of a senator, he can’t seem to get around to hanging them.

It’s said in Senate circles, according to Mr. Casey, that senators who endure develop a “me wall” — a bank of pictures posed with VIPs.

“I’ll probably be a little more understated,” Mr. Casey cracked.

With the first anniversary of his swearing-in Friday, the walls match Mr. Casey’s Senate record — mostly undecorated, with his big plans still unfulfilled.

The record reflects his typically methodical approach to government and a focus on the issues he campaigned on and cares most about — changing the course of the war in Iraq, and anything dealing with children.
 
His accomplishments are mostly blips expected of a freshman senator, but after a couple of months of absorbing the Senate’s ways, he emerged in March as a persistent advocate for children’s health insurance. It wasn’t until August that he fully stepped to the forefront before the national media to talk about Iraq, an issue that helped propel him to the Senate.

But his wry, self-deprecating sense of humor and reserved way of doing his job remain intact, as well as the signature trait often attributed to him over the years — nice guy.

Too nice?

Perhaps some would describe the nice guy as “going along to get along,” to borrow a phrase used by Mr. Casey’s predecessor, Sen. Rick Santorum, during their fierce campaign last year. As evidence, they might point to the Scranton Democrat voting almost all the time with the Senate Democratic leadership’s positions.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., happily recalls that Mr. Casey retired the more vocal Mr. Santorum.

“I have done nothing more important politically in my life than to get Bob Casey to run,” Mr. Reid said in a telephone interview. “He is, of course, smart. He understands government. ... But I think his greatest credential is he’s one of the nicest people anyone’s ever met.”

Which begs the question: How does a nice guy accomplish anything in a bitterly partisan atmosphere where egos and ambitions often overshadow governing and the loudest grab the headlines?

“The U.S. Senate is like life,” Mr. Reid said. “People who are nice to people, who live by the Golden Rule — and he obviously does — are the people who get along well.”

He meant they get things done.

Bill Green, a longtime Republican political consultant from Pittsburgh, wonders if Mr. Casey is achieving anything.

“He’s in the Senate?” he asked. “I mean there’s a point of having a low profile and then there’s a point of having no profile. He’s seldom seen. None of this is unexpected by the way ... But I don’t think you can be mild-mannered in a state this size.”

G. Terry Madonna, Ph.D., the noted Pennsylvania political analyst, said he’s heard Mr. Casey’s first year described as the senator being in “the witness protection program.”

“I think what he’s done is spent the first year learning how the Senate operates, finding his way around,” Dr. Madonna said. “I never expected him to be provocative or controversial. That’s typically not his style ... Even when he expresses opposition, it always sounds muted.”

A purposeful mild manner

James Brown, Mr. Casey’s chief of staff, said there is a purpose in Mr. Casey’s style, a combination of working hard away from the spotlight to learn subject matter and developing personal relationships with other senators.

“They think he’s a very serious guy, who does his homework, doesn’t shoot his mouth off all the time, but when he does say something it’s substantive,” Mr. Brown said. “I’ve heard it actually repeatedly from some other chiefs of staff on the Republican side who’ll say, ‘Your boss is a good guy. We can work with him on things.’”

Mr. Casey’s approach is a classic, long-term strategy for a rookie congressman. Work hard, speak when necessary or called upon and build relationships to earn the influence that leads to a subcommittee and committee chairmanships.

“For a relative newcomer, it’s a very good strategy for someone who’s not yet in a position to pass big bills,” said David Rohde, Ph.D., a congressional scholar at Duke University.

It is an unsurprising strategy for him, not only because of his nature, but because he respects Senate tradition. Mr. Casey asked for an office in Russell, the first-built of the Senate’s three massive administrative structures, because famed senators such as John F. Kennedy, Harry S. Truman and Richard M. Nixon had offices there.

Less partisan than it looks

One Senate tradition is a bipartisanship more prevalent than meets the eye, Dr. Rohde said.

If the purported bipartisanship that permeated the Senate the day of his swearing-in has dissipated, Mr. Casey prefers to look beyond the renewed partisan quarreling since then.

“I don’t think there’s enough bipartisanship, for sure. I think that anyone who says otherwise isn’t telling the truth,” he said.

But, he said, Senate Democrats and Republicans teamed up on a lot of issues — a higher minimum wage; increased funding for the children’s health insurance program, college students loans, science research and science, engineering and mathematics education; a farm bill and the implementation of the 9/11 commission homeland security recommendations.

“The Senate and House deal with a lot of things that are both routine and not divisive within their parties,” Dr. Rohde said. “We only pay so much attention to the partisan stuff because it’s about the most salient issues.”

A critic of Mr. Santorum’s partisanship, Mr. Casey is working on potentially big bills with top Republican moderates.

Last month, he and Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, jointly introduced a bill to revamp the nation’s food safety law.

In October, he joined three Democratic senators and Republican Sens. Richard Lugar of Indiana and John Sununu of New Hampshire in introducing a bill to expand the cancelation of debt owed by the world’s poorest countries. He has signed on to Mr. Lugar’s 16-year crusade to better monitor nuclear weapons and materials worldwide, and faults President Bush for doing too little to implement controls in college laboratories and other potentially vulnerable facilities worldwide.

“I thought if there’s one international issue I want to have an impact on, boy, this is as important as it gets,” he said.

Efforts to reach Mr. Lugar and Mr. Grassley were unsuccessful.

It’s not like Democratic leaders have ignored him either.

When Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., went to Iraq in August, Mr. Casey went along. In November, they asked Mr. Casey to give the Democratic response on Iraq to President Bush’s weekly radio address.

A consistent critic of Mr. Bush’s Iraq policy, Mr. Casey has regularly backed withdrawing American troops and narrowing their mission to training Iraqis to defend their country and counterterrorism. He returned from Iraq upset about the failures of its government, earning air time on CNN, National Public Radio and other news programs, and actually raised his profile somewhat.

He downplays recent signs that violence there is decreasing.

“How can you say that the surge is working ... if the government ministries aren’t functioning? There’s virtually no sign that they’re functioning,” he said.

To him, being called on for the radio address was a sign he is proving himself.

“They call because you can do a good job representing a point of view, an issue, or the position we’re taking in the caucus,” he said.

Another was being tabbed as a spokesman on children’s health insurance.

“When we went into the children’s health insurance initiative, I knew we found an issue that really touched his heart,” Mr. Durbin said. “He really gave it everything he had.”

Mr. Casey’s fondness for the issue goes back to the adoption of children’s health insurance in Pennsylvania when his father, Robert P. Casey, was governor.

Finding his place

Children’s issues are turning into Mr. Casey’s niche.

Besides advocating for children’s health insurance, Mr. Casey has introduced a bill to fund pre-kindergarten education and another to support expectant mothers during and after their pregnancies. The latter is aimed at encouraging adoptions and reducing abortions, and his effort toward finding a middle ground between advocates on both sides of the issue, he said.

His anti-abortion stance was a major reason Democratic leaders recruited him to run, but it hasn’t been the wedge that some expected would separate him from his party, as his voting record proves, Dr. Rohde said.

Aside from Senate passage of expanded children’s health insurance, which Mr. Bush vetoed, perhaps Mr. Casey’s signature achievement has been raking in the most dollars of any freshman senator in earmarks — funding for pet local projects.

Mr. Casey, proud of his record, but aware of its modesty, knows his child-oriented bills could take years to enact. He makes no apologies for loyally supporting the Democratic agenda, saying it reflects his election victory.

“I think we’re having a very positive impact. I think as significant an impact as you could have as a first-year senator,” Mr. Casey said.

“I think everyone has their own personality or approach, but I do think no matter what your approach is ... achievement results from being a marathoner, not a sprinter. If you think you’re just going to get something done down here really fast, you’re just mistaken.”

Highlights of Bob Casey Jr.’s first year:

- Agriculture: Secured special funding for Pennsylvania’s top sectors — dairy and specialty crops like apples and mushrooms — and succeeded in protecting funding in the farm bill for child nutrition programs. Also obtained farm bill funding to help farms deal with runoff water, which is expected to help improve the quality of water flowing into the Chesapeake Bay. Earned a top award from the National Farmers Union.

- Children’s health: Acted as chief Democratic spokesman on State Children’s Health Insurance, a program that was extended Saturday by President Bush. Introduced a bill that provides support for pregnant women. It remains far from passage.

- Consumer protection: Co-authored a bill requiring importers to carry insurance to pay for recalls and cover liability claims of toys and other imports. The bill remains pending.

- Earmarks: Mr. Casey’s $16.6 million in funding for pet local projects topped all freshman senators, USA Today reported earlier this month.

- Food safety: Introduced a bill, with Sen. Charles Grassley, of Iowa, designed to improve food safety. It remains pending.

- Iran: Set forth a strategy to contain Iran’s quest for nuclear weapons, although the plan remains nothing more than that.

- Iraq: Visited there, meeting with Gen. David Petraeus, the senior military commander, and Ambassador Ryan Crocker. Gave the Democratic response on Iraq to one of Mr. Bush’s weekly radio addresses. Consistently voted to withdraw troops, and refocus the war effort on diplomacy and training Iraqi troops.

- Nuclear terrorism: Outlined a strategy to contain the spread of nuclear materials that could be used to build bombs. It remains a proposal.

- Preschool: Embarked on a mission to obtain federal funding for preschools, although his bill has no co-sponsors. Acknowledges passing it could take a while.

- Veterans: Joined Republican senators in producing a bill, passed by Congress, to guarantee payment of bonuses and incentives to veterans wounded in combat.