Pennsylvania Republicans Try a Radical New Tactic…Unity
In 2022, Republican Party operatives in Pennsylvania were confident they had found the perfect candidate to retain the seat held by retiring United States Senator Pat Toomey, a two-term fiscal conservative who, although he denied it, seemed to have grown disgusted with national politics. To compete for the only statewide office still in Republican hands, they recruited David McCormick, whose resumé was so impressive that it almost seemed made up.
McCormick was a West Point graduate, a former college wrestler who became an Army Ranger and served in the 82nd Airborne in Iraq, in charge of a unit that cleared minefields. After the service, he attended Princeton, completing a PhD in international relations, moved on to McKinsey, and then ran a global software supplier that sold for $500 million. From there, he was appointed treasury undersecretary in the George W. Bush administration.
When Bush left office, McCormick returned to the private sector and was named president of the hedge fund giant, Bridgewater Associates, eventually becoming CEO.
There were some minor blips here and there. McCormick did a good deal of business with China, outsourced some jobs to India, and he had divorced his wife, mother of his four children, to take up with and then marry Dina Powell, who also worked in the Bush administration before becoming a partner at Goldman Sachs, despite having no training or experience in finance. To marry McCormick, Powell left her husband and father to her two children.
And, of course, Bridgewater is not in Pennsylvania, but rather in Westport, Connecticut, where McCormick currently lives in a $16 million mansion that “features a 1,500-bottle wine cellar, an elevator and a ‘private waterfront resort’ overlooking Long Island Sound.”
Still, as American politics go, McCormick’s baggage was only carry-on and it seemed as if he might well wipe the floor with John Fetterman, the presumptive Democratic nominee. But Donald Trump, who often seems determined to pull defeat from the jaws of victory, backed McCormick’s rival in a GOP primary, political newcomer, New Jersey resident, and controversial television doctor, Mehmet Oz. (Both McCormick and Oz owned property in Pennsylvania, although neither one spent much time there.)
The primary campaign was bitter and bloody, but Oz squeaked through, winning by a mere 900 votes out of more than 1.34 million cast. Savvy Republicans held their heads in their hands. Oz would be perfect fodder for Fetterman, who could make him a laughingstock, as indeed Fetterman did, winning handily despite—astoundingly—suffering a stroke early in the campaign.
In 2024, Pennsylvania’s other Senate seat will be contested, this time with moderate Democrat Bob Casey running for a fourth term, and once again party leaders have put McCormick up to be their candidate.
Unlike 2022, however, McCormick will almost certainly not be bruised in a primary fight, nor will Donald Trump figure in his nomination. Amid pressure not to fracture the party again, Trump favorite Doug Mastriano, who was crushed in the 2022 gubernatorial election and whose views might be generously described as bizarre, has agreed not to contest McCormick’s candidacy.
Since Trump hijacked the party, it is quite unusual for him not to weigh in on a key race in which the Republican candidate is not a full-on bootlicker, or as in the case of J. D. Vance, sees the error of his ways and becomes one. Here, however, Trump has been silent although McCormick has not only refused to become a lackey, but is on record as blaming Trump for encouraging “polarization” and “divisiveness,” charges he has yet to retract.
Pennsylvania Republicans are working furiously to keep Trump in check, although, in perhaps a first, not by flattery or fawning. Congressman Dan Meuser, a fervent Trump supporter, has urged the parchment-skinned former president to let “bygones be bygones,” and added that Trump “needs to kind of do what he can to kind of make up with Dave McCormick so they both can be moving forward in the same positive direction.”
Since everyone knows that appeals to Trump’s better nature are a waste of time—Trump does not have a better nature—there are two possible explanations for the change in tone. The first is that, despite his lead in the polls, Republicans have caught on that Trump is willing to steer the ship into the iceberg just for spite and so his grip on a party that actually wants to win is not what it was. The second is the hope that with four felony trials looming, Trump will be either distracted or unwilling to alienate those he needs to screech to the media that the indictments are a miscarriage of justice.
Even if they succeed and Trump does not attack McCormick—enthusiastically backing him seems unlikely—McCormick will have a far tougher road against Casey than he would have had against Fetterman. He will need both Trump’s rural base and suburban moderates to unseat a popular incumbent, whose father, Bob, Sr., won in his two races for governor by almost 1 million votes each time.
Bob, Jr.’s record is none too shabby either. He gained the seat in 2006 by defeating incumbent Rick Santorum by 700,000 votes, retained it in 2012 by 500,000 votes, and again in 2018 by 600,000 votes. There is no question of both his loyalty to the state and his record of supporting its interests in the Senate.
McCormick, on the other hand, has vulnerabilities. The first is residency. Although he bought a home outside Pittsburgh in 2022, McCormick did not apply for the tax break he was due if it were his primary residence. His teenage daughters attend prep school in Connecticut and, his denials notwithstanding, he has not been a Pennsylvania resident in decades. His extensive dealings with China, which includes supplying Chinese clients with sophisticated technology, might not sit well with Republican voters who have been told China is enemy number one. In addition, Bridgewater’s founder, Ray Dalio, has defended China’s human rights record, statements from which McCormick distanced himself only belatedly.
But the real test for Pennsylvania Republicans is the attempt to stitch together the Trump and non-Trump wings of the party, which means Trump must be willing to allow an unapologetic critic—although McCormick is certain to moderate his language—to undermine his stranglehold on the party.
They might have a difficult time persuading him. Trump and self-control are two terms that have yet to be used in the same sentence.