He IS the man who defeated Rick Santorum. What was that worth to you? It sure meant a whole hell of a lot to us here in Pennsylvania! It removed Santorum from the national political scene as well.
And in that Senate campaign Casey declared support for civil unions for same sex couples. Prior to that he had voted to let gays and lesbians serve openly in the military and to repeal the "don't ask, don't tell" policy.
Although a Catholic, he has never been a bible thumping homophobe. He is not a member of Opus Dei. While opposing abortion except in cases of incest, rape or when the life of the mother is in danger, he has voted for access to family planning and birth control. He is not an extremist & should not be lumped in with the right wing (as one poster does).
Casey said he made the shift after reviewing the legal, public policy and civil rights questions involved and letters from Pennsylvania families.
"If two people of the same sex fall in love and want to marry, why would our government stand in the way?" Casey said. "At a time when many Americans lament a lack of commitment in our society between married men and women, why would we want less commitment and fewer strong marriages?
"Elected public officials have an abiding obligation to refrain from demonizing and dividing people for partisan or political gain," Casey said. "Rather, Democrats and Republicans should come together and find areas of agreement to do what's best for the country, including lesbian and gay Americans."
I worked with him and his staff when he was Auditor General and conducting a performance audit on a state agency's failure to provide mandated care for severely retarded children and adults. He and his staff treated the concerned family members with the utmost respect and patience. At meetings I attended, the family members all had time to have their say. Their concerns were listened to and acted upon. This was a RARE exception to most state elected officials, whose accessibility is determined by one's party membership and campaign contributions.
Finally, he is that rare Pennsylvanian politician who has not been bought off by Big Fracking:
On the need to protect drinking water and ground water in Pennsylvania, Senator Casey said: “For Pennsylvania and other States sitting on top of the Marcellus Shale formation, the rapid growth of gas drilling may increase the danger of oil, gas or brine-laden water pathways up to groundwater supplies or to the surface. The protection of underground water sources is especially important to Pennsylvania because we have the second highest number of private drinking water wells in the Nation; three million Pennsylvanians are dependent on private wells to provide safe drinking water to their homes. Every day I hear from Pennsylvanians who worry about their future access to safe drinking water and about explosions caused by gases migrating up from the deep. There continue to be incidents in Pennsylvania that could have, and should have, been averted. These cases raise the question of whether the essential steps have been taken to protect families and communities against potential detrimental side effects of drilling.”
In testimony before the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, Senator Casey highlighted his legislation to increase disclosure and safeguards of chemicals that could enter Pennsylvania’s drinking water supply, improve safety for workers and emergency response procedures at drilling sites and promote job training to help give Pennsylvania workers the skills needed to get jobs in the natural gas industry so that workers are not shipped in from out-of-state. In sum, he is a good and honorable man, and if you want to trash him, go over to Free Republic.
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