“Unserious” NRSC “Has Devolved into Dysfunction” as Democrats Recruit “Top Candidates in Battleground Races” [NOTUS]

NOTUS: “[The NRSC] has devolved into dysfunction. Both senators and the White House are growing more incensed with the campaign arm by the day, the sources say”

Veteran Republican Strategist: “I have never seen so much rank incompetence, in just mind-boggling fashion. [The NRSC is] woefully unprepared for what is coming down the pike”

New reporting from NOTUS draws Republicans’ fears about a wipeout in the midterms into focus as infighting plagues Senate Republicans, with accusations the NRSC has “devolved into dysfunction,” become an “unserious” organization that is “woefully unprepared for what is coming down the pike.” 

While “Democrats have recruited top candidates in battleground states like North Carolina, Maine, Ohio and Alaska,” the NRSC is dealing with embarrassing recruitment failures, a string of retirements, nasty, messy, and expensive primaries, and being forced to defend the toxic GOP agenda that has raised costs and is stripping health care from millions of hardworking Americans.

See for yourself:

NOTUS: Republicans Say the NRSC Isn’t Taking the Midterms Seriously

• NOTUS talked with over a dozen Senate GOP aides, strategists and other sources with knowledge of the NRSC. They described an organization that has devolved into dysfunction. Both senators and the White House are growing more incensed with the campaign arm by the day, the sources say.
• The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
• President Donald Trump’s team has been upset with NRSC leadership since before the current Congress began, two sources told NOTUS. They believed they were not properly read into hiring decisions at the committee, and they continue to be upset that some at the NRSC routinely appear to veer off message, the sources said.
• One veteran Republican strategist who talks regularly with the NRSC said their interactions with the committee “are the most unprofessional I have ever seen.”
• […] this year’s evolving Senate campaign map is only amplifying Republicans’ fears. Democrats have recruited top candidates in battleground states like North Carolina, Maine, Ohio and Alaska, and Trump’s approval ratings have sunk. Democrats need to gain four seats to win a majority in the Senate, and they’re increasingly bullish on races in traditionally Republican states like Texas and Iowa.
• Republicans who spoke to NOTUS say Scott has struggled to manage expectations. Last year, Scott told Axios there’s a possibility that Senate Republicans would gain two seats after the midterms. Now, the group is playing defense in several Republican-held seats.
• But the frustrations from the White House and Republicans across D.C. at this point go far beyond any one irritation or blowup.
• “I have never seen so much rank incompetence, in just mind-boggling fashion,” said the veteran Republican strategist in communication with the committee. “They’re woefully unprepared for what is coming down the pike.”