As Senator Bob Casey finished his tour of the newly constructed Lewis C. Cassidy Academics Plus Elementary School, eighth-grader Yasir Martin asked him if he intended to run for president.
“I’m leaving one office now” – Casey, Democrat, he said. “So I need to get a job.”
Casey, who dropped out of the race on Thursday, two weeks after The Associated Press called GOP candidate Dave McCormick, was at the school for his first public stop in Philadelphia since the election officially ended and his 18-year term ended on Capitol Hill.
In one of his first interviews since leaving the presidency, he blamed his Senate defeat on the infusion of money from super PACs supporting McCormick and described President-elect Donald Trump’s strength in Pennsylvania as formidable.
“I think that combination was hard to overcome,” he said. “It’s the end of the chapter, but it’s a blessing for me to be able to serve… you always want to win again, but it wasn’t meant to be.”
As for what the next chapter will look like, Casey said he doesn’t really know yet. His term will end at the end of December, and until then he will be taking a farewell tour to some of the places that have benefited from federal funding, such as the up-to-date Cassidy Elementary school in Overbrook.
Casey waited until after the initial vote count last Thursday to concede in the tight race against McCormick. He did not waive the initiation of automatic recount launched in the state. Republicans sharply criticized him for this, arguing that it prolonged an election he couldn’t win, cost taxpayers money and tarnished his legacy.
On Tuesday, he disagreed with that criticism.
“I think the vote count dropped by 80,000 on the morning of Election Day and then over the next few days it dropped below 30,000 and then below 20,000,” he said. “At this point we had done one full recount and there was no need for a recount or at least a continuation of the recount.”
Casey said he thinks the two weeks have shed airy on how long it takes for the state to complete a count, which he hopes can be expedited in future close races. “This should be the subject of some work and reform because it shouldn’t take this long to make a decision.”
For Casey, a journey through the brightly painted halls planned a career in public service that began as a fifth-grade teacher and basketball coach in North Philadelphia.
“It’s interesting … to be able to be in a school at the end of a period of government service and see what the possibilities are,” he said, noting that Gesu, the Catholic elementary school where he taught, didn’t even have its own gym.
Walking through state-of-the-art music halls and computer labs, Casey, ever the diligent Democratic messenger, credited the American Rescue Plan with providing most of the funding for the up-to-date $62 million building.
“Sometimes just one vote can make the difference,” Casey said of the bill, which passed with a 50-49 majority.
The up-to-date school is exactly the kind of project Democrats hoped would assist them win this year, campaigning across the country touting investments paid for by a deeply unpopular administration.
Before he left school, Casey shot a few baskets with Yasir in the gym. He posed for a photo in the school’s radiant up-to-date atrium, under a sign that read: “Success starts here.”
