NRSC Weekly Rundown: New Ad: Trump rips Sleepin’ Joe, #HaspelConfirmed, Gov. Scott can’t stop, won’t stop, Manufacturing booming and more!
And here’s this week’s edition of the NRSC Weekly Rundown:
#HaspelConfirmed: The NRSC dropped a new ad urging voters to demand red state Democrats support Gina Haspel’s nomination to CIA Director. After a five–hour long confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill, red state Democrats stayed silent on their position on Haspel. Even after Mark Warner, the highest-ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, announced he would support Haspel’s nomination and editorial boards across the country called for Haspel’s swift confirmation, some red state Democrats chose to vote against Haspel’s nomination and jeopardize national security.
#INSen: The NRSC released a new digital ad featuring President Trump’s remarks ripping Sleepin’ Joe Donnelly for being the least effective Democrat in the Senate. In the ad, Trump bashes Donnelly for being an “incredible swamp person” and praises businessman Mike Braun for wanting to drain the swamp in Washington. It’s no surprise that after President Trump’s Indiana visit, Donnelly’s poll numbers have already dropped. And as Indiana’s economy surges, led by manufacturers, Hoosiers are reminded that Mexico Joe’s family business chose to outsource to Mexico instead of creating jobs at home.
#MTSen: The NRSC rolled out a new video campaign exposing Jon Tester’s dark money hypocrisy. While promising to reject outside group spending, Tester has been secretly posting documents and b-roll footage on his website, begging his dark money allies to come in and spend on his behalf. Someone must be really worried after President Trump vowed to campaign against him. When will Tester own up to being a total fraud on dark money?
#Winning: The National Association of Manufacturers released a new surveyfinding that 93% of manufacturers have a positive outlook for their companies under the Republican economy. Citing the success of the GOP tax cuts, 72% of manufacturers say they plan to increase employee wages and benefits.
#WVSen: After publicly begging President Trump to stay out of West Virginia last week, Joe Manchin told the Washington Post this week, “the more [Trump] can stay out of West Virginia and direct his energies elsewhere would be helpful.” Trump’s popularity in West Virginia poses a huge obstacle to Manchin’s reelection bid. Unsurprisingly, Manchin was quick to try to walk back his comments. But West Virginians aren’t fooled by his continued opposition to President Trump and his agenda.
#FLSen: While Rick Scott continues to campaign tirelessly across Florida, Bill Nelson has been hiding from voters, not even letting Floridians know where he’ll be in the state. In the short six weeks since his announcement, Rick Scott has not only out-campaigned Nelson, he has vastly out-spent him. Scott is up with three ads this week alone, in addition to the previous three he’s been running throughout the state. Also this week, Scott spoke with Florida’s Cuban community at a roundtable, a stark contrast to Nelson’s history of flip-flops on Cuba.
#NDSen: In her new ad, Heidi Heitkamp attempts to portray herself as a bipartisan voice for North Dakotans. But, voters haven’t forgotten that Heitkamp was a rubber stamp for Barack Obama, was a staunch Hillary Clinton supporter and has attempted to block President Trump’s agenda every step of the way in Washington.
#NVSen: After failing to block legislation from passing the House of Representatives that would fund Yucca Mountain, Jacky Rosen falsely claimed Senator Dean Heller has supported Yucca Mountain in the past. PolitiFact was quick to deem Rosen’s attack “mostly false.” It’s clear Nevadans can’t trust Jacky Rosen.
#AZSen: Kyrsten Sinema quickly flip-flopped this week and announced her opposition to President Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Iran Deal, despite voting against the deal just two years ago. As Sinema continues facing blowback from her radical “resister” base, moves like this show just how fractured her support has become in the state.
#OHSen: Sherrod Brown appeared at an event at the far-left think tank, the Center for American Progress, along with a whole bunch of rumored 2020 Democratic presidential hopefuls. Now that Sherrod is hobnobbing with everyone from Cory Booker to Elizabeth Warren, is Brown aiming for his own presidential run?
#PASen: After receiving a strong endorsement from President Trump, Pennsylvanians chose to support Congressman Lou Barletta in Tuesday’s Republican primary. Bob Casey has continued to lurch to the left by opposing the President’s agenda at all costs, despite Trump carrying the state last November. While Casey panders to his progressive base, Barletta will continue his work alongside President Trump to bring real results back home to Pennsylvania.
#NESen: Senator Deb Fischer handily won the Republican primary election Tuesday, with the AP calling the race within 30 minutes of polls closing. It’s no surprise Nebraskans support Fischer in waves with her record of getting results for Nebraska families and communities.
NEWS AND NOTES:
The Hill: Trump makes Manchin top target for midterms
Trump told Republican senators in a closed-door meeting Tuesday that he plans to spend significant time campaigning against Manchin, who represents a state won by the president over Hillary Clinton by 42 points. READ
Bloomberg: Schumer Walks Tightrope to Aid Trump-State Democrats in 2018
With Manchin on board, other Democrats in the closest contests are in the crosshairs, including Heitkamp, McCaskill, Nelson and Donnelly. The National Republican Senatorial Committee is blasting out frequent statements asking where they stand and highlighting the veteran CIA operative’s background. READ
Washington Times: Republicans put heat on Sen. Tammy Baldwin over Haspel vote
The National Republican Senatorial Committee also released a series of digital ads today calling on Democrats in red states to support Ms. Hapsel’s nomination, including Ms. Baldwin. The display ad has the picture of the senator with the message, “Tell Sen. Tammy Baldwin vote yes on Gina Haspel for CIA director” along with her office’s contact information. The ads are set to run on Facebook and Twitter.READ
SayAnythingBlog: Cramer Releases Ad With Heitkamp Shouting That Hillary Clinton “Will Be One of the Greatest Presidents”
In the 2016 election Democratic Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton didn’t even manage to get 30 percent of the vote in North Dakota. President Donald Trump, on the other hand, earned nearly 63 percent of the vote.
That simple fact is why this new digital ad, released this morning by the Congressman Kevin Cramer’s Senate campaign, is going to be effective. It contains footage of incumbent Democrat Heidi Heitkamp on the stump 2016 shouting – literally shouting – about how Clinton “will be one of the greatest presidents.” READ
Kansas City Star: Trump tax cuts leading to low unemployment, small business opportunity
But the driving factor getting the unemployment rate below 4 percent is the recently passed tax cuts, which delivered significant small business tax relief. Small businesses are the nation’s job creators, generating two-thirds of all new jobs. Allowing them to keep substantially more of their earnings has added fuel to the labor market fire.READ
Miami Herald: It’s another seven-figure week on television for Rick Scott
Republican Gov. Rick Scott is continuing his television advertising blitz by releasing a Spanish language ad in the South Florida market, part of a $3.2 million television ad buy spread between three ads across the state just this week. READ
Springfield News-Leader: Claire McCaskill just another far left elitist
After a few cycles of Claire, one can see a clear pattern. When she’s up for re-election she heads back to Missouri claiming to be moderate. However, more than a decade’s worth of votes show that her moderate talk is just chirps, when she’s actually only supported the far-left policies of the liberal elite. READ
Washington Examiner: Hillary Clinton haunts Heidi Heitkamp
That’s created something of a vulnerability for Heitkamp, who’s confronting the same problem as Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill, another vulnerable Trump Country Democratic incumbent fighting to keep her seat in November: she enthusiastically endorsed Clinton. READ
Reuters: Tax cut windfall seen lifting U.S. companies’ business investments
U.S. companies could plow more of the money saved from sweeping tax cuts into business investment later this year, perhaps even surpassing a jump in first-quarter capital expenditure that was the highest in almost seven years, strategists and analysts said. READ
Washington Times: Trump slams Bob Casey as a ‘do nothing senator who only shows up at election time’
President Trump on Wednesday reiterated his support of Rep. Lou Barletta, R-Pa., now the GOP nominee for Senate in Pennsylvania, while slamming incumbent Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., for voting “along the Nancy Pelosi, Elizabeth Warren lines.” READ