Nervous DSCC leans on Obama for fundraising to keep control of Senate

AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster

There is little question that the House will change majority control to the Republicans in the November midterm elections. The question at this point is how big of a red wave it will be. Will it be a tsunami or a ripple? Polling is leaning toward shrinking the red wave but this is August and we don’t know what we don’t know yet. Things happen in the last couple of months leading up to an election, especially October surprises.

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Democrats are really hopeful right now that they may not be doomed to also lose control of the Senate. As AP writes about today, the NRSC is not raising the kind of money it expected to raise this summer from small donors. The DSCC is running circles around them and that’s not good news for Republicans. The RNC is sending up a red flag to big donors to let them know that Democrats are outspending Republicans and that may mean Republicans don’t take back the Senate after all.

Last week the NRSC cut spending for ads in three states, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Arizona, also bad news, especially since this is only August. It was explained that the cuts were a money-saving action. The ads will be rescheduled to coordinate with the individual campaigns, the NRSC explained. It’s smooth sailing for the DSCC right now. It is taking in money hand over fist. Democrats are using abortion as a tool for fundraising after the Supreme Court’s ruling in June that did not ban abortions but sent the authority for abortions back to the states and out of federal control.

In a statement, Executive Director Christie Roberts lauded the DSCC’s grassroots fundraising but said Democrats are cognizant that no battleground state will be a cakewalk.

“We know each of our battleground races will be tight, and the DSCC will continue to take nothing for granted,” she said.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., last week downplayed an expectation of GOP gains in the Senate this fall, saying he thought there was a “greater likelihood the House flips than the Senate.”

“Senate races are just different — they’re statewide. Candidate quality has a lot to do with the outcome,” he said.

McConnell spoke as indications grew that some Republican nominees, backed by Donald Trump, were struggling to gain traction in the general election.

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Not taking anything for granted, the DSCC is calling out the biggest star in the Democrat Party to do some fundraising. Barack Obama will join Senator Gary Peters (D-Mich), the chairman of the DSCC in New York City on September 8. The Hill obtained an invitation which says the two men will hold a “conversation”. As you would expect, tickets ain’t cheap.

General reception entry is $25,000 per person, while a VIP reception and photo line is $50,000, according to the invitation.

There are plenty of things for Republicans to hit Democrats and Joe Biden with while campaigning for the midterm elections. Bidenflation, high crime in major cities, high food prices, high energy costs, school children struggling to recover from losing almost two years in a real classroom, the Biden border crisis, and the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, are just some of the obvious failures of Team Biden. Democrats hope to turn things around by touting some recent successes in passing legislation as Joe Biden hits the campaign trail, starting today in Democrat-friendly Maryland. There is one item that can turn out to be the skunk at the garden party – Biden’s executive order on canceling student loan debt. That move is proving to be a stinker for folks on both sides of the aisle.

While President Biden’s generally lagging approval ratings and decades-high inflation could hurt Democrats in November, the president’s party also saw an impressive July jobs report; the passage of a sweeping health care, tax reform and climate package; and Biden’s recent announcement that he would be canceling a maximum of $10,000 for federal student loan borrowers with incomes of less than $125,000 a year and $20,000 for recipients of the Pell Grant who make up to that income threshold.

But Biden’s announcement could complicate the political landscape for Democrats in competitive races seeking reelection amid possible concerns about inflation.

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Candidates in tight races are too nervous to have Biden come and campaign with them. Biden’s numbers are lower than Trump’s were at this point in his term in office. It is almost impossible to find a Democrat who will say yes, Biden should run for re-election. Most are not inclined to say they’d like Biden to come campaign with them now. When Biden decided to cancel student loan debts, it was a sop to younger voters, with whom he is not at all popular. For everyone else, the taxpayers who will actually pay for Biden’s poor decision, it is a very big mistake.

Barack Obama will raise a lot of money for the DSCC. Democrats love him. What needs to happen is for Donald Trump to pry open his war chest and start helping the candidates he endorsed and encouraged to run, like Dr. Oz and Herschel Walker, so that they stop dragging down the chances of Republicans winning back the Senate. Republicans don’t need much, just a couple of seats to gain solid control. Let’s not let what happened in 2020 happen again in 2022. Trump needs to rally and fundraise for those less than stellar GOP candidates now. Make the Democrats spend their money.

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David Strom 10:00 PM | November 14, 2024
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