To: 2010 GOP Senate Candidates
From: Brian Walsh, NRSC Communications Director
Re: Questions for your Democrat Opponents
Date: Tuesday, January 26, 2009
I wanted to ensure that you saw a recent report today that the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) distributed a memo to your Democrat opponents advising them “to frame their opponents early – and to drive a wedge between moderate voters and tea-party-style conservatives.”
According to these reports, the DSCC advised Democrat candidates to ask their Republican opponents questions such as: “Do you believe that Barack Obama is a U.S. citizen?” and “Do you think President Obama is a socialist?”
Fortunately, it appears our friends on the other side of the aisle have failed to learn anything after their historic loss in Massachusetts.
These kinds of partisan parlor games simply reinforce that the Democrats have a tin ear on what’s important to Americans: creating much-needed jobs, reducing Washington’s out-of-control debt, reining in government spending, lowering burdensome taxes, strengthening America’s national security, and working together to create bipartisan health care reform.
As the Democrats disregard voters’ concerns and attempt to isolate Americans with divisive and partisan rhetoric, we recommend that you stay on offense. Here are some critical questions that we suggest you ask your Democrat opponents regarding some key issues that matter to voters:
Do you believe the $787 billion “stimulus” bill worked? Would you support a second so-called “stimulus” bill, even though the first failed to create much-needed jobs? Or do you believe the unspent money should be returned to the taxpayers?
Are you willing to hold open discussions to reach an agreement on bipartisan health care reform, or will you continue to support backroom deals – such as the Cornhusker Kickback – in order to ram an unpopular and costly government-run health care bill through Congress?
Do you support the half-trillion dollars in Medicare cuts proposed in the Democrats’ health care bill, and do you believe that those cuts will strengthen Medicare? If so, would you support a stand-alone bill to “strengthen” Medicare by cutting a half-trillion dollars?
Do you support the almost half-trillion dollars in new taxes contained in the Democrats’ health care bill? If so, do you believe raising taxes during a recession is the right thing to do?
Do you support increasing the nation’s debt limit by yet another $2 trillion?
Do you support the contentious and costly cap-and-trade legislation, or will you stand up for families, seniors, and small business owners who cannot afford to pay for a costly tax increase every time they turn on their lights or go about their day-to-day lives?
Do you believe the Obama Administration was correct when they gave the Christmas Day bomber a lawyer and the right to remain silent before our intelligence professionals had the opportunity to question him about other potential attacks on the United States?
Do you agree with the Obama Administration that terrorists should be afforded the same rights as American citizens, tried in American courtrooms, and ultimately held on American soil?
As you know, these are the issues that Americans care about in 2010. If the Democrats cannot understand that fact, we look forward to retaining the growing support of Independent and even Democrat voters who are tired of their divisive rhetoric and continued defense of the status quo in Washington.
