To: Interested Parties From: Ward Baker, NRSC Political Director Re: NRSC Arkansas Poll Shows Pryor Extremely Vulnerable ______________________________________________ New polling shows Arkansas Senator Mark Pryor with deep vulnerabilities in 2014. Senator Pryor of Arkansas should be concerned about rising frustration with Washington in his home state. The mood regarding the direction of the country is very low and trending negative (Arkansas: 22% Right Direction/70% Wrong Track, -48 net difference; National NBC-WSJ 29% Right Direction/61% Wrong Track, -32 net difference), a bad sign for incumbents. Pryor is already trailing on the ballot over a year before Election Day. Pryor’s 42% is consistent with all other public polling (no recent poll has shown Pryor higher than 45%, regardless of sponsor or pollster), and is a long way shy of the magic 50% mark. At the same time, Cotton’s 44% is surprisingly strong for a first-time statewide…
Senator Pryor, YOU are Washington
Mark Pryor has had a tough week. First polls revealed that he’s the most vulnerable Senator in America. Then Pryor drew a top tier challenger, conservative Tom Cotton. As if that weren’t enough, Pryor then revealed just how out of touch he by insisting that ObamaCare “has been an amazing success story so far,” despite polls showing that 60% of Arkansas voters oppose and are less likely to support Pryor because of his deciding vote for the unpopular law. Could it get worse for Pryor? Indeed it can. During an awkward interview with KARK, Pryor was again given the opportunity to distance himself from ObamaCare, but insisted to the news anchor, “You know, it actually is working in a lot of ways.” (KARK’s “Morning News,” 8/8/13) Pryor then bizarrely proceeded to explain that everywhere he goes, Arkansans tell him how frustrated they are with Washington, causing the news anchor to jump…
Pryor Puts Obama First Again: New Website Doubles Down on ObamaCare
Yesterday, Mark Pryor’s Democratic Party of Arkansas launched a website designed to attack Congressman Tom Cotton and praise President Barack Obama’s agenda. Among the items that jumped out on the site was a bizarre attack against Rep. Cotton for opposing ObamaCare and lambasting any efforts to dismantle the law that Pryor himself was the deciding vote on. Public opinion polls show Arkansans are overwhelmingly opposed to the unpopular law and would like it repealed. The new website comes on the heels of a new statewide Arkansas poll by Magellan Strategies BR that shows 60% of voters are less likely to support Pryor because he voted for ObamaCare. The fact that Pryor (who just 37% of Arkansans believe deserves reelection) and his political team would continue to highlight his support of ObamaCare shows just how out of touch Senator Pryor is with Arkansas voters. But then again, Pryor also recently admitted that he…
Despite Small Businesses’ Concerns, Begich Remains Loyal to ObamaCare
Recently the Huffington Post reported that a new poll by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce revealed that “Half of small business owners polled indicated they would either cut employee hours or employ fewer full-time workers to avoid Obamacare’s requirement that employees working over 30 hours a week receive employer-provided health insurance, according to the survey. Another 24 percent said they would curb hiring plans to avoid the employer mandate, since it applies only to companies with 50 or more full-time employees.” While Mark Begich likes to pat himself on the back in D.C. for his deciding vote to implement ObamaCare, businesses across the country are bracing themselves for a series of setbacks including laying off employees, footing the bill for new penalties and taxes, and a mountain of uncertainty that inhibits businesses’ ability to expand and hire. For the seventh consecutive week, Mark Begich put his liberal leadership team’s agenda ahead of…
The Lundergan Grimes Hypocrisy
Less than a month ago, Alison Lundergan Grimes claimed she would be a leader on women’s issues. National Democrats quickly adopted her as their next pawn for their “War on Women” campaign. Yet when it comes time to defend real women – actual victims of harassment, Grimes and her father, Jerry Lundergan are empowering the same men who are assaulting women. The Lundergan family has given the maximum amount of donations allowed ($4,950) to fully support entrenched scandal-ridden Anthony Weiner. Although Grimes has attempted to duck and dive interviews with the media, Kentuckians deserve to know the answer to an important question: Does Alison Lundergan Grimes agree with her father’s support of Anthony Weiner? If not, will she demand that her father ask for his donation back from Weiner? “Condemning sexual assault and harassment shouldn’t be controversial simply because the predator is someone of a certain persuasion, yet Alison Lundergan Grimes…
Three Questions for Landrieu Over ObamaCare Impact on Louisiana Businesses
In a Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship hearing this week, President and CEO of Louisiana’s own Dot’s Diner, Mr. Lawrence Katz told Democrat Mary Landrieu and her colleagues that 16 full time employees could lose their job because of ObamaCare, the same health care law that Landrieu touts her “proud” support over. Ahead of Landrieu’s appearance today at the Hammond Chamber of Commerce meeting, where she will discuss the impact of ObamaCare on small businesses, the National Republican Senatorial Committee has three important questions for her. Mary “I am proud of my support for the Affordable Care Act” Landrieu is never one to shy away from her strong support of ObamaCare. “Whether my opponents want to call it ACA or Obamacare, I voted for it. I’m glad I voted for it,” she often touts. But while Landrieu pats herself on the back in D.C., businesses in Louisiana are bracing themselves…
Senate Democratic Leader Refuses to Condemn Sexual Harassment, Predatory Sexting
Democrats created and exploited the term, “War on Women” for political gain for the better part of a year. Now that their own party is caught in the midst of multiple scandals involving sexual harassment, assault, and predatory actions against women, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer is refusing to condemn any of the vulgar and offensive mistreatment. During their time together in Washington, Schumer considered Weiner a protégé, and even called the disgraceful ex-Congressman “a man of integrity,” after the initial sexting scandal was public. Schumer, the real Democratic Senate Leader, joins fellow New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, former New York Senator Hillary Clinton, and former President Bill Clinton in refusing to condemn actions that most normal citizens find reprehensible. “Condemning sexual assault and harassment shouldn’t be controversial simply because the predator is someone of a certain persuasion, but Chuck Schumer – the most powerful Democratic Senator – actually refuses…
While Detroit Declares Bankruptcy… Peters Heads to Golden State to Fundraise with Liberal Trial Lawyers & Nancy Pelosi
While Detroit is battling under the weight of recent news of their state of bankruptcy, which Democrat Gary Peters failed to offer any solutions to prevent, Peters is ducking out of Michigan and heading west to join his liberal leader Nancy Pelosi and their trial lawyer friends in the Golden State. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that Peters and some of his Democratic allies have hit the California fundraising scene and are “working it”, hobnobbing with trial lawyers and liberal Washington bigwigs at the “big national trial lawyers convention in SF…a political bonanza.” Peters, the infamous “wolf in sheep’s clothing“, is seeking to collect some major campaign cash after protecting their pockets ahead of Michiganders’ and voting against commonsense measures like medical malpractice. The San Francisco Chronicle describes the “bonanza”: “The American Association for Justice Convention at the Hilton in San Francisco this week has brought hoards to town — hoards of…
Hagan Flips After Her Manufactured Student Loan Crisis Flopped
Nearly a month ago, Senator Kay Hagan sided with some of the most partisan Democrats in the Senate to allow student loan rates to double. Hagan and her fellow Democrats used North Carolina students as political pawns to manufacture a crisis. Things went south this week, however, when Hagan found herself at odds with the majority of the Senate – and even further to the left of President Obama – when a true bipartisan coalition, led by North Carolina’s senior Senator Richard Burr, negotiated a bipartisan compromise to ensure student loan rates do not increase. With the jig up, Hagan had no choice but to flip-flop and come out in support of Sen. Burr’s bipartisan legislation she did everything to kill just last week. For months, Kay Hagan led efforts to manufacture a crisis on North Carolina students. Why? Because New York Senator Chuck Schumer told her to. Schumer said…
Begich Running From Disastrous ObamaCare He Ensured Became Law
Nearly three weeks ago, Democrat Mark Begich “applauded” the Obama Administration’s decision to delay the employer mandate in ObamaCare. According to Politico, Begich “even tried to take some credit for the move”. The following week, in what can only be described as total hypocrisy, Mark Begich voted against delaying both the employer mandate and individual mandate during an untelevised, unpublicized Appropriations Committee vote. Now, in less than a month, Senator Sixty is flip-flopping for a third time to delay the same legislation he ensured was law in 2010. Begich’s Flip-Flop Of The Week? FLIP: In March 2010, Begich Voted To Keep The Employer Mandate In ObamaCare. (H.R. 4872, CQ Vote #67: Motion agreed to 58-41: R 0-40; D 56-1; I 2-0, 3/24/10, Begich Voted Yea) FLOP: Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska) Introduced A Bill Thursday That Would Delay President Obama’s Employer Healthcare Mandate For Two Years. (The Hill, Senate Dem introduces…
