Alex Mooney’s opponent makes desperate holocaust reference

My friend Alex Mooney is running for Congress in West Virginia’s second congressional district. He is one of our Power Line Picks. I wrote about Alex here and here, among other places.

Alex’s opponent is Nick Casey, a lawyer/lobbyist. Alex has consistently led Casey in the polls. However, the race has tightened. In fact, Real Clear Politics has moved it from “leans GOP” to “toss up.”

Casey is a liberal Democrat and, as such, well out-of-step with West Virginia. For example, in responding to the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) questionnaire earlier this year, Casey replied that he would not vote to protect pain-capable unborn children.

As the campaign wore on, Casey evidently realized how damaging this position is. West Virginia is a pro-life state, and a solid majority of West Virginians would surely support legislation barring late-term abortions.

Accordingly, Casey has now flip-flopped on the issue. But the manner is which he expressed his new position raises questions about Casey beyond the obvious flip-flop problem.

One of the few vestiges of civility in our politics is the unwillingness of public figures to compare policies they strongly dislike to the holocaust. It’s a matter of simple decency. The attempt to extinguish Jews through mass murder has no analogue in any position taken by either Party in our politics.

But this is what Nick Casey said in an interview when pressed to respond to Alex’s criticism of his support for late-term abortion:

I’m not dodging the question; there’s nothing for me to explain about that except it isn’t true. It’s like they said I was at Auschwitz. It isn’t true.

Here is the audio:

One can only imagine the outrage that would be expressed if a strong pro-life Republican like Alex Mooney invoked Auschwitz when discussing abortion. Democrats would denounce the opening of a new and particularly odious front in the “war on women.” The mainstream media would join in. But Casey is a liberal Democrat, so don’t expect him to draw much fire for his holocaust reference.

Casey dug himself a huge hole on the abortion issue. He desperately needs to climb out of that hole. But Casey’s desperation does not justify his offensive reference to Auschwitz.

As I said, the Mooney-Casey race has become quite tight. Alex had to spend more than a half a million dollars to win his primary while the Casey was building up his war chest. Alex needs our support down the stretch.

To support Alex, and defeat the obnoxious Nick Casey, you can contribute here. I just did, again.

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