With reelection secure and from safe distance Casten unloads on Oberweis based on false numbers

Congressman Sean Casten (D, IL-06) won reelection last week based on the Associated Press (AP) projecting him the winner.

Yesterday, when Cook Political Report Dave Wasserman tweeted the erroneous data from the New York Times that falsely showed Congresswoman Lauren Underwood (D, IL-14) ahead by nearly 6,500 votes, Casten, thinking the IL-14 election was over based on false data, unloaded on Republican challenger Jim Oberweis in something we’ll be seeing for the next two years – a Twitter rant.

Here is the 5-part thread of tweets transcribed for ease of reading:

“This is so great.

“This race shouldn’t have been this close – Lauren [Underwood] is such a decent, smart and kind human being, while her opponent is just a dude who yells racist dog whistles.

“But a win is win.

“IL-14 is lucky to have her back, and I’m lucky to serve with her again. [Dave Wasserman tweet embedded]

“To put some context to this: I’m not just name calling.

“First time I ever met Oberweis was at the Chicago Council of Global affairs where he showed a jar filling with yellow M&Ms, then pulled out a brown one and asked what we should do when our country is full?

“And of course, he had previously run this ad in his run for Senate. [Casten embedded the YouTube video of Oberweis’ 2004 Helicopter ad over Soldier Field]

“And then blatantly lied about Lauren’s view on Black Lives Matter protests. [Casten embeds the Daily Herald article reporting on PolitiFact giving a “False” rating on Oberweis’ “Beautiful Protests” commercial]

“The consistent theme in all his campaigns has been the tremendous fear that he might be judged by the content of his character rather than the color of his skin.

“It’s a testament to the voters in IL-14 that they did exactly that.”

Sean Casten tweets from political Twitter account, 11/9/20

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COMMENTARY: Guess Casten did not get the memo the campaign was over and as Joe Biden says it’s time to unify.

And just like October of 2019 when Casten called Congressman Dan Crenshaw (R, TX-02) a “racist” from a safe distance of 1,000 miles, Casten did likewise from the safety of his computer/phone keyboard when he described Oberweis as “racist”.

The undated “M&M” story has no basis in context of fact, particularly the year this event allegedly took place.

And also note the omission of the date of the Oberweis Senate campaign, which could cause some to think the helicopter TV ad was from Oberweis’ most recent run for U.S. Senate in 2014, not over 10 years earlier when Oberweis finished second in the primary.

A lie of omission is still a lie.

When one of Oberweis’ political opponents gets out of line, Oberweis deals with them directly as was witnessed during the primary campaign earlier this year.

And in spite of Oberweis being 74 years old and Casten a good 25 years younger, if I were a betting man, I’d bet Oberweis could put Casten in his place in a direct confrontation.

If Oberweis wins the 14th, that confrontation might take place so be sure to bring the popcorn.