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September 8, 2022
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Happy Thursday morning.
Sen. Rick Scott, the Florida Republican who chairs the NRSC, has a long history of spending millions of his own dollars to win political races.
From 2010 to 2018, the ultra-wealthy Scott spent more than $150 million on becoming Florida’s governor and a U.S. senator.
So in 2022, with Scott’s NRSC facing a big cash crunch versus the DSCC, some Republican senators are quietly asking a simple question – Why doesn’t Scott pony up once again?
One Republican senator put it this way to us: “Borrowing a Trumpian phrase, many people are saying that Rick Scott has the personal means to solve the NRSC’s financial problems.”
Key GOP senators are now willing to say it publicly. If Scott wants to revive Republican prospects in 2022, he can do what he always does to win — use his personal fortune to close the yawning cash gap between the GOP and Senate Democrats.
| → | “Interesting idea,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told us Wednesday, when asked if Scott should cut a check to benefit the NRSC. |
| → | Senate Minority Whip John Thune, McConnell’s No. 2, said: |
| → | Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), a former NRSC chairman, said this: |
In an interview, we asked Scott about whether he would donate to the NRSC like he did for his own campaigns. Here’s what he said.
In order for Scott to give millions of dollars to the NRSC, he would have to cut a check to his re-election account, which already has $1.4 million on hand, and then move it to the party committee.
Some of these comments from Republicans are a bit of schadenfreude. Although they downplay the beef publicly, McConnell’s circle is quite peeved at Scott for what they believe is mismanagement of the NRSC.
Scott and his aides have pushed back against the Republican criticism, arguing that the NRSC’s strategy was to spend heavily earlier in the cycle, leveling the playing field for GOP candidates coming out of primary fights.
“We did the right thing – we spent early,” Scott insisted during an interview on Fox News Wednesday.
Scott aides note that in swing states, the level of spending for TV ads on the Republican side – and this includes the McConnell-affiliated Senate Leadership Fund – is comparable to Democrats, or in some cases, significantly greater.
For instance, in New Hampshire, Republicans are set to spend more than $27 million bashing Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan, while Democrats have booked $17 million.
And in Ohio, there’s more than $24 million lined up for Republicans and GOP hopeful J.D. Vance, versus $7.7 million benefitting Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan.
In Georgia, Democrats have $59 million in ads scheduled versus $50 million for Republicans (and yeah Georgians, you’re not going to see anything else for the next two months). In Pennsylvania, it’s $34 million for Democrats, against nearly $29 million for Republicans.
In Arizona and Nevada, Democrats have big advantages, although that may change in Nevada, which is a very close race. SLF has pulled out of Arizona as GOP candidate Blake Masters has stumbled against Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly.
Overall, there’s more than $430 million in TV ads already reserved for seven key races, with more to come. This doesn’t include all the spending by the candidates or the coordinated/hybrid spending by the national committees in tandem with the individual campaigns. And there will be millions more in direct mail and other GOTV operations.
Still, early spending or not, the NRSC is being outspent by Democrats while Republican candidates are struggling nationwide. As one senator put it to us, Scott made a big bet that doesn’t appear, at this moment, to be paying off. Several Republicans say they are trying to raise enough money so that the GOP can have two-thirds what Democrats will spend during this final run-up to the election.
Also, remember: McConnell has never lost seats in a midterm election as GOP leader.
— Jake Sherman and John Bresnahan
Today: RSVP here to join us at Hawk ‘N’ Dove or on the livestream at 9 a.m. ET. We’ll be talking to Rep. Buddy Carter (R-Ga.) about the wide ranging use of 5G technology and its impact on transportation, followed by an in-person Brown Bag Lunch.
2022
How’s John Fetterman doing? ‘Really well,’ according to Bob Casey
As Republicans step up their attacks on Pennsylvania Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman, Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) is hitting back.
In a far cry from the unfit-for-office image that GOP candidate Mehmet Oz and Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) are painting, Casey says the lieutenant governor is “doing really well” after suffering a stroke in May.
Trailing in polls and fundraising, Oz’s campaign has pivoted to sharply criticizing Fetterman’s handling of his stroke. Last month, an Oz campaign spokesperson criticized Fetterman for failing to eat more vegetables. And on Tuesday, Oz and Toomey appeared for a rare joint press conference assailing Fetterman for failing to commit to debates against his Republican opponent.
Fetterman issued a statement on Wednesday night saying he always planned to debate Oz in October while also acknowledging some ongoing physical problems in the wake of his stroke:
Casey described the GOP argument against Fetterman as “pathetic and “frankly insulting.”
“Republicans are in a full scale panic because they can’t break that connection that John’s already made with voters,” Casey added.
Conservatives are seizing on a recent 45-second clip of Fetterman’s Labor Day speech in West Mifflin, Pa., that has amassed over 2 million views on Twitter. It was a rare campaign appearance for the Democrat, who has kept a light public schedule during his recovery.
“Send me to Washington, D.C., so I can work with Sen. [Bob] Casey and I can champion the union way of life in Jersey, excuse me in D.C.,” Fetterman says in the clip, where he speaks haltingly at times.
Despite questions over Fetterman’s health, Casey — who appeared with Fetterman on Labor Day — was adamant that the Democrat will win in November, a potentially huge pickup for the party.
Also: Politico’s Burgess Everett: “Dems defend Fetterman’s low profile amid GOP health attacks: ‘Why should he help Oz?’”
— Max Cohen
SENATE AGENDA
Schumer calls for same-sex marriage vote soon
As we reported yesterday in the PM edition, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer plans to hold a vote on codifying same-sex marriage into law in the coming weeks. This sets up a history-making showdown on the Senate floor over a key cultural issue as the midterm elections looms.
The Democratic leadership’s priority is to take up the proposal as a standalone measure, but they would consider attaching it to the short-term spending bill designed to keep federal agencies open beyond Sept. 30 if necessary.
“A vote on marriage equality will happen on the Senate floor in the coming weeks and I hope there will be 10 Republicans to support it,” Schumer told reporters Wednesday. “We would prefer to do it as a separate bill. We hope there are 10 Republicans to help us with that.”
Schumer’s comments come after pushback from the bill’s lead authors – Sens. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) – to the idea of attaching same-sex marriage language to the continuing resolution to fund the government. We first reported that idea was under consideration.
Baldwin and Collins are working on an amendment to address religious liberty concerns raised by some Republicans. The amendment would also make clear that polygamous marriages aren’t permitted under this measure.
Backers of the bill – which easily passed the House back in July with significant GOP support – are hopeful of rounding up 10 Senate Republican votes. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell hasn’t said how he’ll vote. If he does back the measure, that could sway other Republicans.
Time is also a huge factor here. Schumer is going to need a week of floor time to overcome any GOP filibuster. He’ll also need time to pass the CR, which is a must-do item. The Senate will be out on Sept. 26-27 for Rosh Hashanah, and senators want to get home to campaign. Technically, the Senate is scheduled to be in session during mid-October, but no one really expects that to happen.
Also: Senate Republicans are expressing concern about Democratic plans to add Covid relief and Ukraine aid to the government funding bill. Catch up with that here in Punchbowl News Midday from Wednesday.
— John Bresnahan
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