DSCC FRIDAY TAKEAWAYS: NATIONAL ABORTION BAN PUT REPUBLICANS ON DEFENSE – BOLDUC’S ABORTION BLUNDER – HERSCHEL SITS ON A THRONE OF LIES

AWFULLY DEFENSIVE – ABORTION BAN HAS GOP CANDIDATES “ON DEFENSE.” Senate Republicans’ national abortion ban continues to have “swing-state Republicans on defense” – and is sparking backlash as doctors fear that “physicians could be prosecuted” and that the GOP’s ban would “force many women to undergo invasive transvaginal ultrasounds before terminating pregnancies.”

• CNN: Graham’s 15-week abortion bill further complicates Republican midterm messaging. “Many Republican Senate candidates appear ill-prepared to respond to the Graham bill, with several either distancing themselves from it, obfuscating with their answers or just not engaging on the topic.”

• The Hill: Swing-state Republicans on defense over Graham’s abortion ban. “‘Republicans are showing voters exactly what they would do if they are in charge: pass a nationwide abortion ban and strip away women’s right to make our own health care decisions,’ said Nora Keefe, a spokesperson for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. ‘For Americans of every political persuasion who value the freedom to make their own decisions about their family’s health care, the stakes of protecting and expanding our Democratic Senate majority in November have never been higher.’”

• CNBC: Lindsey Graham’s abortion ban bill baffles some Republicans as Democrats sharpen attacks in key midterm races. “Graham’s announcement on Tuesday drove a fresh wave of headlines about abortion, as Democrats lined up to condemn the bill that would sharply narrow access to the procedure.”

• NBC News: Doctors say Graham abortion ban would force women to have transvaginal ultrasounds. “Because violations of Graham’s proposed 15-week ban would be punishable by up to five years in prison, doctors say the legislation would create a powerful incentive to perform trans-vaginal ultrasounds to make an age judgment.”

SHOCK ME LIKE AN ELECTRIC EEL – GOP SENATE CANDIDATES GRAB THIRD RAIL, SHORT-CIRCUITING THEIR CAMPAIGNS & TURNING OFF VOTERS. Despite Social Security and Medicare being “wildly popular” – a new report from POLITICO questions why Republicans continue to “keep talking about privatizing them.”

• POLITICO: The third rail Republicans can’t stop touching. “Bolduc isn’t the only Republican to take aim at the popular programs in recent months; GOP Senate nominees in some of the country’s most competitive races this year have also faced scrutiny over their current or past support for privatizing the programs.”

BOLDUC BLUNDER – ON ABORTION, GRANITE STATE REPUBLICAN TELLS WOMEN TO “GET OVER IT” & SAYS IT DISTRACTS “FROM THE REALLY IMPORTANT ISSUES.” This week, Don Bolduc callously told Granite Staters to ‘get over’ the prospect of a nationwide abortion ban – and said that the ban ‘distracts ‘from the really important issues.’ Senator Hassan hit back on Bolduc’s comments with a new digital ad highlighting how out of touch he is with the Granite State.

• Boston Globe: On abortion, NH Republican Senate challenger has a message: ‘Get over it’. “Don Bolduc, the tough-talking retired brigadier general, directed that advice to his opponent, Democratic US Senator Maggie Hassan, criticizing her focus on the overturned constitutional right to abortion. “Get over it,” Bolduc said on WMUR CloseUp.”

• WMUR: Republican U.S. Senate candidate Don Bolduc on Sen. Maggie Hassan’s abortion focus: ‘Get over it’.“In a recent poll from the St. Anselm College Survey Center of nearly 2,000 registered voters in New Hampshire, 71% identified as pro-choice, 25% described themselves as pro-life and 3% were unsure.”

• Washington Post: This just in: N.H. GOP candidate says abortion distracts ‘from the really important issues.’ “The Republican Senate candidate in New Hampshire said the Democratic incumbent he wants to unseat is campaigning on the issue of abortion ‘to distract from the really important issues that are affecting’ voters in the state.”

• Boston Globe: Get Over It? Nope!“Voters can’t trust Bolduc’s word on abortion, or anything else.”

• HuffPost: New Hampshire GOP Senate Nominee Don Bolduc On Abortion: ‘Get Over It’. “Hassan’s campaign responded on Monday with a digital ad that highlighted Buldoc’s comments urging people to ‘rejoice’ after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade earlier this year.”

Watch Hassan’s Digital Ad: “Get Over It”

YOU SIT ON A THRONE OF LIES – HERSCHEL WALKER’S LIES ABOUT HIS CHARITABLE DONATIONS ARE HIS LATEST BOUT WITH THE TRUTH. Walker’s lies about his charitable donations are the latest in a constant stream of revelations demonstrating that he is not who he says he is, isn’t up for the job, and has no business representing Georgians in the U.S. Senate.

• New York Times, A1: Herschel Walker’s Company Said It Donated Profits, But Evidence Is Scant. “Mr. Walker, a former football star, pledged that 15 percent of profits would go to charities, a promise the company said was ‘part of its corporate charter’… But there is scant evidence that Mr. Walker’s giving matched those promises.”

• MSNBC – All In With Chris Hayes (WATCH): “Herschel Walker may be among the most unqualified, if not the most unqualified, candidate running to serve in public office – not only because he seems just incapable of answering even the most basic policy questions, but because he appears to lie almost instinctually.”

• Washington Post: Walker’s campaign struggles show GOP’s deeper challenge in Georgia. “The ease of his primary win has been followed by an eruption of misstatements and revelations.”

TAR HEEL TROUBLE – BUDD “EMBRACES TRUMP, ABORTION OPPOSITION” AS REPUBLICANS WORRY ABOUT HIS STRUGGLING CAMPAIGN.  Ahead of Trump’s visit to the Tarheel State, a wave of news coverage is highlighting how Ted Budd is embracing Republicans’ “most controversial policies and people” – including backing a national abortion ban and peddling Trump’s Big Lie. North Carolina Democrats are holding Budd accountable by installing a billboard highlighting his dangerous comments around the Jan. 6 insurrection.

• Associated Press: Budd embraces Trump, abortion opposition in NC Senate race. “In competitive races across the U.S., Republican candidates are distancing themselves from their party’s most controversial policies and people — namely, abortion and former President Donald Trump — as Election Day approaches. Not Ted Budd.”

• News & Observer: Senate candidate Ted Budd declines to say if he’ll accept 2022 election results. “U.S. Rep. Ted Budd, the Republican candidate for a North Carolina seat in the U.S. Senate, declined to say whether he would accept this year’s election results in response to questions from the New York Times, Washington Post and, in follow-up inquiries, from The News & Observer.”

• Charlotte Observer (Opinion): Ted Budd’s refusal to answer a basic question shows he really is an election denier. “It’s not entirely surprising that Budd would cast doubt on the 2022 election, because he still seems reluctant to embrace Trump’s 2020 loss. As a congressman, Budd objected to the certification of the Electoral College results and spent months echoing Trump’s false claims of voter fraud.”

• News and Observer: NC Democrats greet Trump rally with a giant reminder of Budd’s views about Jan. 6. “The North Carolina Democratic Party hung a billboard outside the entrance of the Wilmington airport Thursday morning with an image of Budd and the words: ‘It was nothing. And it was just patriots standing up,’ referring to a comment Budd made about the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.”

MISSION FAILURE – MASTERS CALLED “DISGRACEFUL” FOR VETERAN REMARKS, TRIES TO HIDE HIS EXTREME ABORTION VIEWS.  After Vice news reported that Master’s wanted to ‘explicitly called for a wholesale firing of the generals,’ now, Arizona veterans are slamming Masters over his offensive remarks.

• Arizona Republic: GOP Senate hopeful Blake Masters repeatedly has criticized the US military. “Republican Senate hopeful Blake Masters repeatedly has said there’s ‘rot’ in the military and that its leadership is inadequate, incompetent and should be fired.”

• Northeast Valley News: Blake Masters offends some Arizona veterans. “At the end of the day, what Masters has said is nothing short of disgraceful.”

• Arizona Mirror: Tucson vets slam U.S. Senate candidate Blake Masters. “The veterans were upset by Masters’ derogatory comments about military leadership.”

• Tucson Sentinel: Tucson vets call GOP Senate candidate Masters’ comments on military ‘disgraceful rhetoric’ & ‘disqualifying.‘ “‘When Masters calls our military incompetent, it degrades a half-million veterans,’ along with the tens of thousands of active duty military members who live in Arizona, she said. ‘And, that’s big talk for a guy who never served anybody but himself,’ Andersh said.”

→ ICYMI: Arizona Republic: Blake Masters, Peter Thiel sought new FDA boss, new approach to clinical trials as Trump took office. “For Masters, the story of the FDA recommendation and a company called Cortexyme offers a glimpse of his free-market preferences and the public risks and private profits that can go with it. As is often the case for Masters, Thiel looms large over it.”

JUST ANOTHER WEEK FOR RON “COMPLETELY OUT OF TOUCH” JOHNSON. A new AP report shows that Wisconsin voters — including previous Johnson supporters — are tired of his constant threats to Social Security, Medicare, and women’s reproductive freedom. Additionally, UpNorthNews reported Johnson has backed judges who are “hostile” to Wisconsinites’ rights, and he was slammed in The Madison Times for outscourcing jobs.

• AP: GOP’s election-year standing with independents at risk. “In interviews with more than a dozen independent voters here over two days last week, many were rethinking their support of the GOP this fall.”

• UpNorthNews: Ron Johnson’s Judges: Hostile to Marriage Rights, Women’s Reproductive Freedom, and Unsure on Banning School Segregation. “Wisconsin’s Republican senator has approved lifetime positions for several nominees who were vigorously opposed by coalitions of civil rights groups.”

• The Madison Times (Opinion): Ron Johnson Voted to Outsource Jobs Like Mine. Mandela Barnes Wants to Bring Them Back. “It’s pretty clear that Ron Johnson isn’t up to the task of keeping our jobs in the Badger State, but I know that Mandela is. That’s why I’m voting for him on November 8—and if you believe Wisconsin workers deserve a real champion in Washington, you should too.”

SHADIER THAN ADAM LEVINE – DSCC AD SLAMS LAXALT FOR CASHING IN FROM BIG OIL & CORPORATE BACKERS. The DSCC released a new ad in the Nevada Senate race, “Cashed In.” The spot highlights how Adam Laxalt is a sleazy, corrupt politician who is looking out for himself and his corporate backers, like Big Oil companies.

WATCH: “Cashed In”

• Washington Post: Take a look: In Nevada, Democrats seek to link Laxalt to ‘Big Oil’. “The Democratic Senate Campaign Committee is out with a new 30-second ad Tuesday linking the Republican Senate candidate in Nevada, Adam Laxalt, to deep-pocketed oil companies.”

THE GANG BUYS A TIMESHARE – AND LAXALT CASHES IN. A new investigative report from the Nevada Independent highlights the extensive financial ties between Adam Laxalt and a Las Vegas timeshare company – and how his office turned a blind eye to more than 50 complaints involving their ‘aggressive’ and ‘deceptive’ sales tactics. It’s a sleazy plot that’s straight out of Always Sunny in Philadelphia – but Laxalt’s corruption is no joke for Nevadans.

• Nevada Independent: Timeshare company with close Laxalt ties generated dozens of customer complaints to then-AG’s office. “Starpoint Resort Group — a Nevada-based timeshare company that has for years maintained financial ties to the campaigns of Republican Senate candidate and former Attorney General Adam Laxalt — generated dozens of customer complaints sent to the attorney general’s office during Laxalt’s tenure, according to documents reviewed by The Nevada Independent.”

CAN’T MISS WEEKEND READ:

ELLE MAGAZINE PROFILES SEN. CORTEZ MASTO – WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS “Catherine Cortez Masto, the only Latina in the U.S. Senate, is fighting to keep her seat in one of the most-watched races of the midterms.”

RUBIO COMPARES ABORTION TO VEHICULAR MANSLAUGHTER. Vice News reported that Marco Rubio compared abortion to vehicular manslaughter – once again showing he is wrong for the Sunshine State.

• Vice News: Marco Rubio Appears to Have Compared Abortion to Vehicular Manslaughter. “In a virtual town hall Monday, Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio seemed to compare abortion to vehicular manslaughter.”

WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE – O’DEA CASUALLY MENTIONS HIS FRIENDS ATTENDED JAN. 6TH, GETS SLAMMED ON ABORTION. O’Dea came under fire this week after the Colorado Times Recorder reported that he previously said, “I had friends that were at January 6” – and a Colorado OB-GYN slammed O’Dea for “fully supporting anti-abortion policies.”

• Colorado Times Recorder: U.S. Senate Candidate O’Dea: ‘I Had Friends That Were at January 6’. “During a Republican U.S. Senate candidate forum in February, Denver businessman and U.S. Senate candidate Joe O’Dea said he had friends who attended January 6, characterized it as a ‘rally,’ and compared participants to those who took part in nationwide police brutality protests that occurred during the summer of 2020.”

• Colorado Times Recorder: O’Dea’s Abortion Stance Conflicts With His Stated Support of Roe v. Wade, Says OB-GYN Doctor. “‘[O’Dea’s] record indicates — on every single front, whether it’s supporting a policy or opposing — when the rubber meets the road and he is forced to answer whether or not he supports a specific policy proposal that supports abortion rights, he says no,’ said Najar. ‘His record is fully supporting anti-abortion policies.’”

BAD AND BOUJEE – BUT IN DOC HOLLYWOOD’S CASE, IT’S ALL JUST BAD. New Jersey transplant Mehmet Oz is being called out for his expensive lifestyle while he tries to paint himself as an Average Joe. Wonkette released a new article detailing Oz’s craving for fancy Turkish suits and his expensive tastebuds while highlighting how out of touch he is with Pennsylvanians. The American Independent reported that Oz ‘wants rich people like himself to pay less in taxes.’”

• Wonkette: Dr. Oz, Working Class Common Man Of The People In Expensive Tailored Turkish Suits. “Meanwhile, Dr. Oz — who once literally spent $5,000 on salmon at an upscale California farmer’s market — basks in his privilege and has used his wealth and fame for his own self-aggrandizement.

• The American Independent: Mehmet Oz’s tax policy relies on protecting tax cuts for multimillionaires like himself. “The Pennsylvania Senate candidate opposes recent tax changes that benefited poorer and middle-income Americans, but not those that benefitted wealthier people and businesses.”

JUST THIS WEEK, THANKS TO SENATE DEMOCRATS.

→ Senator Mark Kelly Working To Expand Manufacturing Across Arizona. Senate Democrats like Senator Mark Kelly, voted to pass the bipartisan Chips legislation that lowers costs, ensures that more products are made here in America, and helps the U.S. out-compete countries like China. This week Kelly toured a microchip job training facility that was made possible through the Chips legislation.

• Arizona Family – Good Evening Arizona (WATCH): “Arizona Senator Mark Kelly is working to expand microchip manufacturing across our state. Kelly checking out the microchip job training program out at a stray and Mountain Community College earlier today.”

IN THE STATES

FL – Florida Politics (Opinion): Marco Rubio’s campaign is all over the place. “Every time he talks, Rubio gets a headline, and not always a flattering one.”

NC – Gaston Gazette: Senate candidate Cheri Beasley talks drug prices, abortion, campaign at Gastonia pharmacy. “Democrat Cheri Beasley sat down this month at a Gastonia pharmacy with advocates of lowering prescription drug prices … The former chief justice of North Carolina’s Supreme Court mostly listened as seven people talked about their struggles to pay for medications for serious diseases ranging from diabetes to cancer.”

OH – Ohio Capital Journal: J.D. Vance’s comments about Somali community spark pushback in Columbus. “In an interview last year, Republican Senate nominee J.D. Vance brought up violence in a Somali community to defend his hardline stance on immigration policy. …  ‘People should learn English. They should want to be part of the community — be friendly, be neighborly, that’s okay,’ he explained.”

PA – Pittsburgh Post Gazette: John Fetterman reaffirms commitment to rural Pa. communities during rally at IUP. “Wearing a Fetterman shirt inside the event center, Will Latinette, a 70-year-old retired researcher who lives near Blairsville, said he comes from a town where residents have a pretty negative view of Democrats. He applauded Mr. Fetterman’s approach of coming to the reddest of counties. ‘Republicans try to be populist, but their policies are not. His are,’ Mr. Latinette said, ‘and they have been from the very beginning.’”

WI – WJFW: Barnes unveils plan to strengthen Social Security and Medicare. “Democratic Senate candidate Mandela Barnes released his plan to protect Social Security and Medicare. Barnes vowed to fight against any legislation that would privatize social security, or raise the retirement age. He also would vote to make sure the ‘very wealthy pay their fair sure’ to make sure social security is financially secure, according to a press release from the Barnes campaign.”

TWEET OF THE WEEK

David Bergstein
@DavidABergstein

Amanda Sherman
@asherman89

Pat Burgwinkle
@Burgwinkle

Nora Keefe
@norakatekeefe

Freedom Murphy
@F_AlexanderM

Eli Cousin
@elicousin

Claire Berry
@claireliseberry

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