Why was Casey the only swing state Dem to lose?

[EastOfEden]

Shortest possible answer: Asleep at the wheel. Bill Nelson part 2.

[100% pro-life no matter what]

This is anecdotal, but I'm distant cousins with Bob Casey (though I've never met him), and my family in PA mostly feels like he's abandoned his principles.  My dad's family (Irish Catholics originally from Scranton) always revered his dad and historically supported the younger Casey as well.  However, as he's started to become more of a generic Democrat and abandon the strong moderate and socially conservative roots of the Casey family, my family has soured on him.  Most of them ultimately voted against him, and some even had McCormick yard signs.

In short, the Casey name wasn't worth a ton to him because he ran away from the legacy of his father.

[Averroës]

This is anecdotal, but I'm distant cousins with Bob Casey (though I've never met him), and my family in PA mostly feels like he's abandoned his principles.  My dad's family (Irish Catholics originally from Scranton) always revered his dad and historically supported the younger Casey as well.  However, as he's started to become more of a generic Democrat and abandon the strong moderate and socially conservative roots of the Casey family, my family has soured on him.  Most of them ultimately voted against him, and some even had McCormick yard signs.

In short, the Casey name wasn't worth a ton to him because he ran away from the legacy of his father.

It was interesting reading coverage of his shift on abortion earlier this year. It was so clearly a cynical ploy to keep up with the party line and there wasn't much of an effort to make it look sincere. It doesn't matter which side of the issue you're on, how can anyone trust a person like that? I wonder how disproportionate his undervote was.

[Schumer can go f*** himself!]

This is anecdotal, but I'm distant cousins with Bob Casey (though I've never met him), and my family in PA mostly feels like he's abandoned his principles.  My dad's family (Irish Catholics originally from Scranton) always revered his dad and historically supported the younger Casey as well.  However, as he's started to become more of a generic Democrat and abandon the strong moderate and socially conservative roots of the Casey family, my family has soured on him.  Most of them ultimately voted against him, and some even had McCormick yard signs.

In short, the Casey name wasn't worth a ton to him because he ran away from the legacy of his father.

It was interesting reading coverage of his shift on abortion earlier this year. It was so clearly a cynical ploy to keep up with the party line and there wasn't much of an effort to make it look sincere. It doesn't matter which side of the issue you're on, how can anyone trust a person like that? I wonder how disproportionate his undervote was.

I’m pro-choice and even I am far sadder about Brown, Tester, and Osborn losing for precisely that reason.  I struck me as deeply cynical and while plenty of politicians likely shift on this in either direction for purely political reasons, few are as bad at faking some shred of sincerity when doing so.

[Pollster]

I didn't do any work in PA this cycle so can only comment with the perspective of an outside observer - the spending disparity here is stark especially compared to the WI and MI races, in addition to McCormick getting more lift (even if slightly) from the Presidential topline result than the other two states as well.

One trend we noticed in focus groups across the country both this cycle and in 2022 is that the post-2016 political era (defined by particularly theatric attention-seeking and attention-grabbing by officeholders and candidates) has changed the way that voters either reward or punish incumbency. There is an increasing sense that if voters are not regularly seeing and hearing from politicians (media appearances, big speeches that generate coverage, statements about community-level developments that break through locally, and - perhaps most importantly - getting other politicians to talk about and react to them) that they "aren't doing anything" and have "been around forever." "Been around forever" in particular is increasingly being applied negatively to officeholders who have had objectively short tenures but have not been prolifically theatric while in office - I heard it in multiple focus groups for members of Congress running for only their second and third terms.

It used to be such that politicians could keep their heads down during their terms and quietly do lower-profile legislative work that they could raise in Labor Day to Election Day tv ads and fortify during retail campaign appearances, but this is increasingly no longer the case in a political climate that not only rewards politicians who are "always on" but also directly penalizes those who aren't, and a media and campaign ecosystem where so much money is spent and airwaves are so saturated that it often takes being the loudest and most theatric voice in order to break through efficiently.

Again, I didn't work in PA this cycle, but I suspect Casey was dragged down by some or all of this.

[New World Man]

Casey,outside looking in,seems to have run a Bill Nelson kind of campaign.

[Steve from Lambeth]

Casey,outside looking in,seems to have run a Bill Nelson kind of campaign.

We used to support him, but we’ve switched
We used to support him, but we’ve switched

He never does anything, except vote with liberals
He never does anything, except vote with liberals

He puts party first, you last
He puts party first, you last

He’s a corrupt career politician
He’s a corrupt career politician

He’s so desperate that he has to make things up
He’s so desperate that he has to make things up

Real leaders take responsibility
Real leaders take responsibility

Things are a lot more expensive than when he was first elected
Things are a lot more expensive than when he was first elected

[Chief Justice PiT]

This is anecdotal, but I'm distant cousins with Bob Casey (though I've never met him), and my family in PA mostly feels like he's abandoned his principles.  My dad's family (Irish Catholics originally from Scranton) always revered his dad and historically supported the younger Casey as well.  However, as he's started to become more of a generic Democrat and abandon the strong moderate and socially conservative roots of the Casey family, my family has soured on him.  Most of them ultimately voted against him, and some even had McCormick yard signs.

In short, the Casey name wasn't worth a ton to him because he ran away from the legacy of his father.

     I would guess that he was under pressure to adopt more progressive stances in order to fit in, hoping that he could stay afloat in a purple state with the strength of the Casey brand. Even though PA is not nearly as conservative as MT/OH, if true this technically makes him a victim of political trends like Tester and Brown.