BETHLEHEM, Pennsylvania — Two Senate Democrats tried to film a campaign ad together, but their effort only resulted in arguments about historical figures — and left viewers convinced the two had dropped out of acting classes.
Bob Casey of Pennsylvania and Sherrod Brown of Ohio joined forces to put their best effort into a campaign ad called Posted on Thursday Posted on Casey's official Twitter campaign account.
“Are we on tape? I want to tell this story really quick,” Brown says, before the video fades to a black screen with a humorous disclaimer.
“We tried to convince Senator Casey and Senator Brown to make a video together. This is what we got,” the text reads.
As the action begins, Casey makes funny faces at the camera and poses in a boxing stance as Brown watches.
Casey then mentioned steamboat inventor and Pennsylvania native Robert Fulton. Not to be outdone, Brown responded with his favorite influential Ohioans.
“We only have Thomas Edison and the Wright brothers,” Brown said to Casey's laughter. “Nobody knows Robert Fulton. Who is he?”
Brown observes that while Pennsylvania may have been the home of Founding Father Ben Franklin, Ohio produced “Ulysses S. Grant” and forgotten presidents like William Henry Harrison, Rutherford B. Hayes and James Garfield.
“You only had James Buchanan, didn't you?” Brown said, taunting Casey about presidents from Pennsylvania.
Interestingly, Brown didn't mention that President Biden likes to tout his Keystone State roots — Biden was born in Scranton and moved to Delaware a decade later.
Casey didn't bother to correct his counterpart — perhaps because Biden's favorability ratings are significantly lower in both Pennsylvania and Ohio.
Reactions to the video were mixed online, with many confused by the non-serious nature of the senators' message.
“What the hell is this?” one user wrote,
“2 senators are about to lose their seats,” Another wroteThat appears to be a mockery of polls that show Casey and Brown running neck-and-neck against GOP rivals Dave McCormick and Bernie Moreno, respectively.
A third user suggested Casey and Brown should engage another Rust Belt Democrat, Senator John Fetterman (D-PA), to improve their Twitter game.
“You guys really need some help from @SenFettermanPA's campaign team,” The user wrote“That will turn off voters, but it won’t convince undecided people to vote for you.”
