During a 36-minute conference call, a recording of which was obtained by POLITICO, McDaniel argued that the party has strong Senate candidates and a favorable political environment. But she went on to say that Republican candidates are being swamped by Democrats in the chase for campaign cash. The Supreme Court’s June decision nixing Roe v. Wade, McDaniel said, triggered a gusher of online donations for the opposition.
McDaniel – who was joined by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, the architect of the party’s House takeover in the 1994 midterm election – also said Republican small donors had been “decimated” by the lagging economy. That’s made the GOP more dependent on large contributors, such as those on the call, to compete against Democrats on the air in the final weeks before the election, she said.
“We absolutely have better candidates and a better message,” McDaniel said, pushing back on what she described as a false, media-driven narrative that the GOP’s prospects in Senate races are waning. “But,” she said, “we do need financial firepower to drive our effort.”
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