On Tuesday, Sen. Robert P. Casey Jr. (D-Pa.) joined a growing list of Democrats calling for indicted Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) to resign. “Serving in public office is a privilege that demands a higher standard of conduct. Senator Menendez should resign,” he said in a terse statement. It speaks to the widening gap between the parties: One is trying to protect democratic norms, and the other reveres a four-times indicted former president who tried to overthrow the 2020 election and insinuated Gen. Mark A. Milley, the outgoing chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, would have been executed in times past.

This also shows that, in the not-yet-post-Trump era, the differences among Democrats has shrunk. Usually characterized as “moderate,” Casey might appear restrained and modest in demeanor, but he is in lockstep with progressives on a range of issues, including the danger to democracy.

In a Capitol Hill interview on Wednesday, he explained his statement on Menendez. He told me, “Public service … is a sacred trust. And it demands a higher standard of conduct than the specificity I read.” As for a potential vote to expel Menendez, he said he’d never experienced an expulsion vote but hopes Menendez resigns before it gets to that point. As for Republicans chiming in to keep Menendez, Casey observed, “I think there’s been more words about this than about the other guy [Trump] … where I’ve heard silence.”

Casey didn’t pull punches on other issues, either. He makes no bones about the filibuster. “Changing that is essential for the Senate to function better,” he said. “It’s been abused and is now a barrier to real progress.” He favors the approach of filibuster guru Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), who suggests giving senators unlimited time to debate bills (it could be hundreds of hours in reality) but eventually requiring an up-or-down vote. That in some ways is more daring than simply lowering the 60-vote threshold for most legislation to, say, 55.

Casey will face reelection in 2024 in a closely divided state. Republican David McCormick, who lost in the primary to Mehmet Oz in 2022 (who in turn lost in the general to Democrat John Fetterman), recently announced he’s running to unseat Casey. As the Associated Press reported, “Democrats have treated McCormick as Casey’s de facto opponent, attacking his record in business, his opposition to abortion rights and indications that he still lives on Connecticut’s ritzy ‘Gold Coast,’ where he spent a dozen years as an executive at the hedge fund Bridgewater Associates.”

Casey was blunt: “He lied about where he lives.” (I asked if McCormick still lives in Connecticut. He said with a twinkle, “We’ll have to see!”)

Casey is adamant about protecting abortion rights. “For a lot of people, it’s become a basic threshold question about [whether] you [favor] categorical bans on abortion that would make it virtually impossible to have access to abortion or not.” He said the Republican Party seems “driven to ban abortion, to have almost no access to abortion.” He added, “It will be a major issue.”

Abortion was the top issue in last year’s elections, including Pennsylvania governor’s race, and it is shaping up to be a critical factor again. In his failed 2022 run, McCormick said he would allow abortions only “for the life of the mother.” That leaves out threats to the mother’s health, rape and incest, and, most important, it disregards overwhelming support in the state for Roe v. Wade. (A Franklin and Marshall College poll last year showed 9 in 10 voters in the state favor abortion access in some form.)

In contrast, Casey noted, he had “voted to advance the Women’s Health Protection Act.”

Casey is not shy about touting the results of the American Rescue Plan Act, the Inflation Reduction Act and the bipartisan infrastructure act. He’s quick to point to some $13 billion allocated to his state ($11.5 billion for roads alone).. He rattled off projects such as the $78 million revamp of Roosevelt Boulevard in Philadelphia and $30 million for lead pipe removal in Eerie — impossible without federal money. Add the Inflation Reduction Act’s impact on drug costs for seniors, insulin price controls and “significant investment in the clean energy economy,” and Casey seemed confident voters would appreciate what he had helped deliver.

When he travels to the 48 rural counties generally controlled by Republican commissioners, he hears how much the dollars mean to local, county and state officials. “They are very, very appreciative,” he observed. He also restated his firm support for the expanded child tax credit, which made a dramatic reduction in child poverty.

Toward the end of the interview, Casey emphasized that for democracy in 2024, “the stakes could not be higher” when the former president is using words like “retribution” and other “apocalyptic terms.” It’s not only the former president who worries Casey but “all those who are accommodating him.” “They show no willingness to confront him or any group of extremists when it comes to protecting democracy,” he said, noting that just this past weekend there was very little pushback against the comments Trump made about Milley. “If that’s not a moment to be declarative, categorical about what’s permissible in a democracy,” he’s not sure what would be.

Casey might be mild in tone, but he paints in bold colors when it comes to abortion, the filibuster, child poverty, democracy and Bidenomics. If nothing else, Trump has brought Democrats together to embrace a vibrant center-left agenda. We’ll see next year if the voters like what they are offering.

Opinion by Jennifer Rubin

Jennifer Rubin writes reported opinion for The Washington Post. She is the author of “Resistance: How Women Saved Democracy from Donald Trump” and is host of the podcast Jen Rubin's "Green Room."