DSCC SMOKES NRSC IN SEPTEMBER AND Q3 FUNDRAISING. The DSCC raised $4.2 million in September, crushing the NRSC by $1.3 million. Despite being in the minority, the DSCC has outraised the NRSC 7 out of 9 months this cycle. The DSCC raised $11.3 million in the third quarter, $2.5 million more than the NRSC in the same period. It was the best off-year third quarter to date.
Roll Call: Senate Democrats Raise More Than Senate Republicans in September
GOP CONTINUES RECKLESS MARCH TOWARDS FISCAL DISASTER. With the deadline to stop a default crisis less than two weeks away, Senate Republicans came up with a brilliant strategy – sit back and let the totally chaotic House take the lead on stopping the crisis (Spoiler Alert: Not a smart idea). And Senators like Pat Toomey took to the floor to say that concerns over the fallout of a default are“ridiculous.” Unfortunately for the Senate GOP, economists of both parties disagree.
SO HOW IS THE HOUSE COMING ALONG WITH PREVENTING THAT DEFAULT…Before spending 11 hours in an epic display of just what the word overreach means, House Republicans wasted precious time before a default on a reckless ‘Pay China First’ plan that would put vital programs in jeopardy by putting payments to China ahead of payments for programs that benefit our servicemembers, veterans, small businesses, students and Medicare beneficiaries. GOP Senate candidates Joe Heck in Nevada, David Jolly and Ron DeSantis in Florida, and Marlin Stutzman and Todd Young in Indiana, all eagerly supported the bill, proving once again how they prioritize partisan games over bipartisan common-sense solutions.
On Thursday night, it became painfully clear that the House GOP leaders had no plan to actually stop a default crisis when they realized they couldn’t get 218 votes on their bill. Politico blared the headline: “House Republicans scramble for debt ceiling plan” instilling TONS of confidence in the Senate Republicans who plan to just chill and let the House take this one.
RON JOHNSON DESPERATELY TRYING NEW TACTICS AS POLL NUMBERS CONTINUE TO PLUMMET. It was a rough week for Ron Johnson, with a new poll published Wednesday showing Russ Feingold leading Johnson 51-40. Earlier in the week, Johnson did a full embrace of the House Freedom Caucus. Yes, that House Freedom Caucus…the one known as the extremist faction that has thrown the Republican-controlled Congress into chaos and revealed their inability to govern responsibly. At a recent event, Johnson said that the group are “patriots, they’re like me… I found them to be very reasonable people.” The House Freedom Caucus has a lengthy record of very NOT reasonable positions, so Johnson couldn’t be any more wrong in praising them as reasonable. But hey, at least he’s right about something – he is just as out-of-touch as the House Freedom Caucus.
ANOTHER WEEK, ANOTHER RAND PANIC STORY OUT OF KENTUCKY. Last week, it was Erick Erickson to call on Rand Paul to abandon his presidential bid and return to Kentucky. This week, it is Mitch McConnell. Earlier in the week, the Associated Press reported on the pleas for Paul to focus on his Senate seat, and now Politico is writing on the pressure Mitch McConnell is putting on Rand Paul to go home to Kentucky.
Politico: McConnell presses Paul to focus on Senate bid
…But there are growing concerns that Paul, as a senator still in his first term in office, is courting trouble by dividing his time between the two races, raising the prospect that a rock-ribbed Republican seat could be put into play and jeopardize McConnell’s fragile 54-seat GOP majority.
…There, Ward Baker, a blunt-spoken former Marine and the NRSC’s executive director, told Stafford that Paul’s dual campaigns were coming with a cost. Baker laid out recent polling the NRSC had commissioned on Paul’s standing in his home state and the results were bleak, according to multiple Republicans briefed on the survey. Baker told him that it was time for Paul, whose presidential campaign has dipped in the polls and flat-lined at fundraising, to refocus on his reelection.
…There is fresh urgency after Paul’s third-quarter Senate report, filed on Wednesday, showed he had raised a paltry $156,590 for his reelection in the last quarter, a small sum for a House candidate, let alone a nationally known Senate incumbent.
“His reelection to the Senate is not a forgone conclusion,” warned Ted Jackson, a veteran Republican political strategist in Kentucky…
ROVE WORRIED ABOUT HIS SPECIAL PAL ROY BLUNT. GOP panic has spread to Missouri, where special interests are now attempting to swoop in and save the day for their close ally Roy Blunt. This week, Blunt went for the special interest double play. Karl Rove’s dark money group One Nation went on the air with an $800,000 attempt to shore up his image, and David Koch himself hosted a fundraiser for Blunt in New York. Truth is, no amount of money will be able to erase Blunt’s record of leaving Missourians out to dry.
SPECIAL INTERESTS CAN’T SAVE AYOTTE’S FAVORABILITY NUMBERS. Special interests have already made it abundantly clear that they will spend big to prop up their friend in the Senate, Kelly Ayotte. This week, David Koch hosted a $10,000 a plate fundraiser that benefited Ayotte in New York. But all of this outside spending can’t save Ayotte’s falling approval numbers. A new poll shows Ayotte and Maggie Hassan running neck and neck, but voters like Hassan better than Ayotte. While voters approve of Hassan 50%-39%, Ayotte’s approval rating is only 40%-42%. Special interest spending won’t be able to save Kelly Ayotte.
NHDP LAUNCHES “AYOTTE FACT CHECK” ACCOUNTABILITY PROJECT. New Hampshire Democrats launched the “Ayotte Fact Check” to keep Kelly Ayotte accountable for her record in Washington that she and her special interest friends are carefully trying to hide.
HECK ADMITS TO ETHICS VIOLATION. Today, Congressman Joe Heck’s office admitted to violating House ethics laws by misusing tax dollars in response to an ethics complaint filed on Thursday night. Heck’s admitted ethics violation garnered statewide television coverage yesterday and this morning. Watch the coverage here.
IN THE STATES
OHIO – Three polls in October has shown Ted Strickland leading Rob Portman. Today’s Bowling Green State University poll showed Ted leading by 8 points.
ARIZONA – OP-ED CALLS DONALD TRUMP AND JOHN MCCAIN “ONE IN THE SAME.” An op-ed in the Arizona Republicslammed John McCain as being the same as Donald Trump because they are both “that guy…who says what he needs to say to get elected.”
WASHINGTON – MURRAY POSTS IMPRESSIVE Q3 FUNDRAISING. Patty Murray raised $1.4 million in the third quarter of 2015, leaving her with $4.7 million cash on hand.
NEVADA – A FAMILIAR ANGLE. Sharron Angle, who lost to Harry Reid in 2010, is reportedly considering another try for the seat. When it comes to the issues, though, she and Congressman Joe Heck are ideological twins– from privatizing Social Security to ending birthright citizenship. Hold onto your hats, folks.
FLORIDA – LOPEZ CANTERA TAKES PRIDE IN DO-NOTHING RECORD. Not only is Carlos Lopez-Cantera not even pretending that he doesn’t have an absentee record as Lieutenant Governor, but he is now actually bragging about it. Interesting strategy…
WISCONSIN – POLITIFACT RATES JOHNSON CLAIM “FULL FLOP.” PolitiFact Wisconsin called out Ron Johnson for completely flip-flopping on the Export-Import Bank, after voting against its reauthorization twice.
TWEET OF THE WEEK: This week’s tweet goes to Andrea Drusch, who pointed out Republican troubles in Kentucky: @AndreaDrusch: NRSC polled Rand Paul’s #kysen reelection & “the results were bleak” http://www.politico.com/story/2015/10/mitch-mcconnell-rand-paul-senate-bid-215097 …
