Casey: McCain Camp Has ‘Ph.D. in Smear Artistry’

Barack Obama’s chief Pennsylvania surrogate, Sen. Bob Casey (D), is hitting back at John McCain’s campaign for what he sees as smear tactics.

Casey, in an interview Wednesday on MSNBC, said that the suggestions that Obama was referring to Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) when he talked about “lipstick on a pig” are distractions. Obama made the remark Tuesday while talking about McCain and Palin’s case for change, which he sees as thin.

“But I’ll tell you,” Casey said, “if the campaign McCain, the people running that campaign, the same crowd that ran President Bush’s campaigns, if they want to have a discussion about who’s smearing whom — I mean, these people have a Ph.D. in smear artistry. They’ve been doing it for a generation. It’s not working this year, and they’re pretty frustrated, so they’re going to continue to try to smear Sen. Obama.”

Casey, who backed Obama before the Democratic primary in Pennysylvania, said that most people in his state are focused on the economy. He noted that about 600,000 Americans have lost their jobs this year, and he blamed the losses on Republican policies.