PA Primary Day with C&B: Dave McCormick’s Closing Argument

CLAY: We are continuing biggest and most important and most tight race that’s going on anywhere — there are lots of primary elections occurring today — is the Pennsylvania Senate race, and we bring in now Dave McCormick who has been running a campaign there to take over for the retiring Republican, Senator Pat Toomey. Dave, we appreciate you making the time to come on with us. We wanted to give you an opportunity. A lot of people out there listening to us right now in Pennsylvania who are making their decision about who to vote for. Why are you the right choice?

MCCORMICK: Well, guys, thanks for having me. It’s a beautiful day for voting; so thanks for letting me talk to your listeners. Listen. What’s happening right now is exciting. I mean, if you look at the polling, you see that more than 20% of the voters were undecided and even those decided weren’t completely decided. And so, what’s happening now is people are recognizing and they feel angry because they feel like their country is headed in the wrong direction.

They see this race is critical to Pennsylvania, critical to the future of the country. And they’re asking themselves three questions. Number one, who best represents my conservative values, and who’s gonna go fight for them in Washington? Two, who can win? It’s critical we win this election. This will determine where the majority is in the Senate. This is the seat that will send Chuck Schumer packing back to New York with his suitcase and we’ve gotta have a candidate that can win.

Chuck Schumer’s gonna throw everything he can possibly can at us. It’s like the Super Bowl. And the third question is, who’s gonna be able to get to Washington and deal with the crisis we’re in, the inflation crisis, the border crisis which results in fentanyl addiction here in Pennsylvania, the energy crisis that’s made us deponent the world. Ukraine, China and so forth. And when I go out — and I did three rallies yesterday — for the last three and a half months, four or five times a day I’m in diners and coffee shops and VFWs and fire halls.

And I’m making that case that as a guy who’s battle tested, Pennsylvania true — grew up in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania — went to West Point, served in the 82nd Airborne, went to combat and then ultimately came back and ran a big company in Pittsburgh that created 600 jobs, and then went on and ran another company. I lived the American dream and I’m running for this seat so I can go to Washington to fight and make sure that other kids in Pennsylvania have that same opportunity I’ve had.

BUCK: We appreciate you coming back with us, and we know it’s a big day in Pennsylvania and we appreciate all the folks who are tuning in right now from WHP in Harrisburg and WAEB in Allentown, Pennsylvania, among other stations that have big audiences in that state. So folks are gonna be heading to the polls here shortly, are listening in. You said you’re the guy who can win. Obviously, anybody who’s running is gonna believe that about themselves or they shouldn’t run. Make that case to us, though and to the folks listening. Why is that the case?

MCCORMICK: Well, this is gonna be… This is not an exaggeration… I think the most high profile Senate race in history because the stakes are so high for the Senate. Everything that the Democrats can possibly throw at this nominee (chuckles) they will throw at them. So you need to have someone in this position that’s got credibility, that can build an excellent team, that can marshal a great campaign and the resources and has a great story, a great Pennsylvania story.

So my opponent will likely be John Fetterman. And so, first of all, the debate will be around ideas. Whose ideas are better? Are the socialist ideas and the Joe Biden administration’s ideas better for America and better for Pennsylvania, or are America First ideas, ideas that create jobs and create the American dream for other people in Pennsylvania? Is that the better set of ideas? So I’m best positioned to be able to make that case as someone who grew up in rural Pennsylvania, someone who has a family farm, someone who has created jobs in Pennsylvania — and then someone who served in you are on military, went to West Point, served in combat.

So I had the unique set of experiences and profile. And I like that contrast with John Fetterman. So John Fetterman is an avowed socialist. John Fetterman sort of positions himself as a tough guy and the guy running around with the tattoos and yet I’m the guy who grew up baling hay on the farm and went to West Point, went to Ranger School, served in the 82nd Airborne Division, and John Fetterman has the trust fund and went to Harvard.

So there is a good contrast there in terms of bio, and there’s a great contrast in terms of what I can bring to Pennsylvanians. And listen. This isn’t just a Republican problem. That high inflation, that energy crisis where Joe Biden made us energy dependent, that open border that’s killing our communities, those are things that Democrats are really upset about too. And we have a huge opportunity to bring them into voting for us or even into the party.

And we also have a huge opportunity beginning tomorrow to unite the party. And so listen. I’m optimistic. We’re gonna find out soon enough. I’m optimistic that that message is resonating. I feel it everywhere I go. I felt it in the rallies yesterday; I felt it in the last couple weeks that Pennsylvanians are zeroing in on the significance of this seat and they realize they need a seasoned…

Someone who is a proven leader who can go — who can go fix these problems and take the fight to Washington and that’s why I’m asking for the vote of your listeners. Those who haven’t voted, I hope you’ll go to the polls and vote for me because I won’t let you down. I’ll fight for our conservative values, I’ll fight for Pennsylvania. I’ll fight. I’ve fought for American my whole life. I’ll do it again.

CLAY: Dave, this is your first election to my knowledge. What do you think the experience will be like as you have done everything you can and all the votes start coming in tonight when the polls close?

MCCORMICK: You know, I’m a very… I don’t get… Emotionally I don’t get very volatile on this. So I feel like we have run an excellent campaign. I feel like we’ve done everything we can do to make our case to the people of Pennsylvania. I have a huge amount of confidence in their ability to sort through what’s true and what’s not true, to determine who’s really authentic and who can serve them well. And so I feel great about it. And I think this will end well, and at this point, I’ve done everything I can do, and I’m proud of what we’ve done, and I’d be just absolutely privileged not only to run for this seat, but to lead in the Senate on behalf of the great people of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

BUCK: Dave, we appreciate your service to the country, and we appreciate you wanting to serve in a different capacity here in the United States Senate. Thanks for making time for us again, making your final argument to the folks of Pennsylvania. Wish you all the best, sir.

MCCORMICK: Hey, thanks for having me, guys. Have a good day.