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DSCC FRIDAY TAKEAWAYS: REPUBLICANS IGNORE PUBLIC OUTCRY FOR COVID RELIEF, EYE NEXT RECESS—SENATE GOP “INDIFFERENT” TO TRUMP MISHANDLING PANDEMIC

MORE AMERICANS FILE JOBLESS CLAIMS, BUT SENATE REPUBLICANS AREN’T “WORRIED” ABOUT FAILING ON CORONAVIRUS RELIEF. Another 1.4 million Americans filed new jobless claims last week, but Senate Republicans told the Washington Post “there hasn’t been a loud public outcry at the lack of another stimulus package” so they aren’t “especially worried” about their failure to extend emergency unemployment relief or pass additional aid. Rather than trying to pass an urgently needed bipartisan relief package, Senate GOP leaders are already eyeing an “early exit.” It’s no wonder that the “anger” of millions of jobless Americans is directed at Senate Republicans for failing them in this crisis. Washington Post: Analysis | Power Up: Will GOP resistance to new stimulus package cost them the Senate? They don’t seem to think so

ARE MITCH MCCONNELL AND SENATE REPUBLICANS STILL BLOCKING URGENTLY NEEDED RELIEF? YES.

GOP SENATORS “INDIFFERENT” TO MISHANDLING OF PANDEMIC, REFUSE TO HOLD TRUMP ACCOUNTABLE FOR “INTENTIONALLY MISLEADING AMERICANS.” After a bombshell report last week revealed that the president knew how dangerous the pandemic was but “intentionally” misled Americans, Senate Republicans were “indifferent” and refused to hold the president accountable for his mishandling of the pandemic. Their responses ranged from “fake news” from unelected Senator Kelly Loeffler to dodging reporters like Senator Cory Gardner, who took “a back staircase, declining to answer questions.” Their response was hardly surprising: they already failed to hold the Trump administration accountable for botching the response, ignoring warnings, and allowing the coronavirus to “silently spread” throughout the United States for weeks.

Watch the DSCC’s latest video calling out Senate Republicans for praising Trump for his disastrous coronavirus response:

GOP INCUMBENTS “SUFFER” FROM MISMANAGEMENT OF CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE. The New York Times took a look at how “President Trump’s mismanagement of the coronavirus pandemic has imperiled both his own re-election and his party’s majority in the Senate.” A new New York Times/Siena College Survey found that voters are “unsettled” by the president’s handling of the pandemic –– and GOP incumbents are suffering. Reminder: Senate Republicans share the administration’s disastrous response to the coronavirus pandemic — they have repeatedly praised the president and bragged about working “hand in glove” with the White House. New York Times: Virus Pulls Down Trump, Poll Shows, and G.O.P. Senators Suffer With Him

DSCC ANNOUNCES RECORD SHATTERING AUGUST FUNDRAISING HAUL. The DSCC continues to have its strongest fundraising cycle ever thanks to small-dollar donors, and will report raising $26.9 million in August and increasing our cash on hand to $41 million heading into September. August was the committee’s best monthly fundraising haul in history and more than triple our previous monthly fundraising record for August. The eye-popping haul was fueled by grassroots supporters fired up to help ensure we elect a Democratic Senate: more than 86% came from grassroots donations and the average online donation in August was $35. Read more about our growing momentum here.

GOP MEGA-DONORS HIT THE PANIC BUTTON ON LOSING THE SENATE. There were new signs this week that GOP mega-donors are getting worried about losing their Senate majority. Of course, with vulnerable Republicans falling behind their Democratic challengers, it’s no surprise that corporate interests and billionaires who have profited from these Republican incumbents running the Senate are now trying to rescue their losing campaigns.

  • Financial Times found that Republican mega-donors have hit the panic button, admitting “our incumbents are in a bad way, even in reliably red states, and they are being swamped by Democratic fundraising.” It’s like we’ve been saying all cycle: “Democrats have been able to broaden the map, forcing the NRSC to spend on states they normally wouldn’t have to.”
  • Cook Political Report also highlighted how “protecting the Senate majority is seeing new urgency from Republican donors” as they desperately try to catch up with “the massive hauls Democratic challengers have been pulling in for months now, fueled by online small dollar donations” in order to keep Mitch McConnell in charge.

BATTLE FOR THE SENATE MAJORITY HEATING UP. And, based on the latest analysis of the Senate map, Republican mega-donors are right to be nervous:

  • Washington Post: “There are 13 chances on this list for Democrats to flip Senate seats and just two for Republicans”
  • FiveThirtyEight: “Democrats are slight favorites to regain control of the Senate” 

HEALTH CARE IS ON THE BALLOT IN NOVEMBER…  

  • REPORT: ACA ATTACKS LED TO “SLOW EROSION” OF HEALTH COVERAGE. One million Americans lost health insurance last year, a number that “has steadily climbed this year under the pandemic.” The “continued slow erosion of the nation’s insured rate” is a result of “repeated attempts by President Trump and Republicans to undermine” the Affordable Care Act. And now, in the middle of a pandemic “the trickle of coverage losses has become a flood.” Washington Post: The Health 202: One million Americans lost health insurance last year
  • VULNERABLE REPUBLICANS TRYING TO “OBSCURE” HEALTH RECORDS. NBC News took a look this week at how vulnerable Senate Republicans are running TV ads insisting they’ll protect pre-existing conditions coverage, a claim that is “at odds with their own recent votes and policy positions.” Recent ads from Senators Cory Gardner, Martha McSally, David Perdue, and Steve Daines all pledged to protect people with pre-existing conditions, but the reality is all four of them have voted to gut the health care law that guarantees those protections and have enabled the ongoing GOP lawsuit to strike down the entire law in the middle of a pandemic. NBC News: Republican senators in tough races obscure their position on pre-existing conditions

GARDNER LOSES *THREE* FACT CHECKS IN ONE WEEK FOR FALSE PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS CLAIM. Fact checks from the Colorado Times Recorder, 9News and PolitiFact all found that Senator Cory Garder’s claims that “his legislation, introduced last month, will protect people with pre-existing conditions if Obamacare is repealed” are “False.” The bill that Gardner has been referencing in TV ads and on Twitter “does not require insurance companies to provide coverage for people with pre-existing conditions” and has been exposed as a sham. One expert called it “an adorable little bill” that does not address any of the issues, while another quipped that the bill’s text may as well have just been “‘I’m running for election. I’ll do whatever is necessary.’” It’s like telling somebody you’re gonna give them an umbrella and you just hand them the stick part.

DEJOY POLICIES DELAYED NEARLY 350 MILLION PIECES OF MAIL. This week a Senate report led by Senator Gary Peters uncovered that Republican mega-donor and current Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s changes to the USPS deteriorated on-time delivery rates, “ensnaring prescription medications, benefits checks and ballots in midterm elections” and “delayed nearly 350 million pieces, or 7 percent, of the country’s first-class mail in the five weeks they were in effect.” Republican senators have repeatedly denied and downplayed the problems as DeJoy and President Trump have sabotaged the Postal Service. Washington Post: DeJoy’s Postal Service policies delayed 7 percent of nation’s first-class mail, Senate Democrat’s report says

DSCC ANNOUNCES SEVEN-FIGURE INVESTMENT IN #SCSEN. The DSCC announced a seven-figure investment in Jaime Harrison’s campaign to bolster spending on paid advertising and other resources as his race in South Carolina against Senator Lindsey Graham tightens.

TILLIS BACKED PHARMA-FRIENDLY BILL WHILE TAKING CASH FROM BIG DRUG COMPANIES. A devastating investigation by Charlotte TV station WBTV revealed Senator Tillis took thousands of dollars from the pharmaceutical industry as he sponsored a drug pricing bill that “omitted a key provision opposed by the pharmaceutical industry that would cap drug prices at inflation.” The report is part of a troubling pattern for Tillis who has a record of putting his corporate special interest campaign donors ahead of what’s right for North Carolinians. Watch the brutal investigative report → WBTV: Tillis took pharmaceutical money within weeks of co-sponsoring new drug price bill

BOLLIER POSITIONED TO GAIN SUPPORT FROM MODERATE REPUBLICAN VOTERS, WINS ENDORSEMENT FROM FORMER GOP SENATOR.  Dr. Barbara Bollier continues to show her appeal across party lines in Kansas after receiving an endorsement from former Republican Senator Nancy Kassebaum. Earlier this week, a deep dive from the Kansas City Star found that “moderate voters are still poised to play a pivotal role” in the Senate race –– and Barbara is uniquely positioned to capture their votes. While Congressman Roger Marshall “has doubled down on his message to conservatives,” Barbara has built a broader coalition of support that includes independents and moderate Republicans.

GREENFIELD RENEWS CALL FOR ERNST TO PUBLICLY APOLOGIZE  TO HEALTH WORKERS. Democratic challenger Theresa Greenfield renewed her call for Senator Joni Ernst to issue a public apology to Iowa’s health care heroes after she irresponsibly embraced debunked conspiracy theories and “insulted” health care workers. Ernst has refused to publicly apologize for her reckless, disqualifying comments, receiving blistering criticism from across the state. Senator Ernst has consistently mishandled this public health crisis by downplaying the virus, spreading misinformation, opposing a mask mandate despite White House task force and expert warnings, and attending crowded events without wearing a mask.

“INCREASINGLY COMPETITIVE”: DR. AL GROSS MOUNTS A SERIOUS CHALLENGE IN ALASKA. Two deep dives on the Alaska Senate race found that the contest there is becoming “increasingly competitive” as Dr. Al Gross has a “real shot at unseating Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan.” Sullivan even admitted to the New York Times “that Alaska had ‘taken it on the chin’ and agreed that the struggling economy could encourage some voters to consider a change.”  Polls have found that the Alaska Senate race is a dead heat and a recent string of analyses spotlighted how Alaska’s Senate race is shaping up to be among “the toughest fights that incumbent Alaska Republicans have seen since 2008” with nonpartisan election analysts saying they “wouldn’t sleep on the Senate race.”

IN THE STATES

AL – HuffPost: Alabama Senate Candidate Tommy Tuberville Struggles To Discuss Voting Rights Act

AL – CNN: This Republican Senate candidate appears to have no idea what the Voting Rights Act is

AZ – PolitiFact: Fact-checking Mark Kelly on Martha McSally’s stance on Medicare

CO – Colorado Springs Independent (Editorial): Opinion: The Trump and Gardner (green)washing machine

CO – Colorado Politics: Ethics complaints filed against state Sen. Paul Lundeen and aide over Gardner ad

GA – WJBF: Ossoff prepared to take on Georgia’s senior senator

GA – Albany Herald: Georgia AFL-CIO endorses Rev. Raphael Warnock for Senate

IA – Iowa Starting Line: What Joni Ernst Says When She’s Only Among Republicans

KS – Louisville Courier-Journal: Gov. Andy Beshear endorses Amy McGrath in Kentucky Senate race against Mitch McConnell

KS – KOAM: U.S. Senate Candidate Barbara Bollier meets with voters in Pittsburg

ME – Boston Globe (Opinion): Maine mulls dumping Susan Collins

ME – Maine Beacon: Collins claims she’s ‘consistent’ in seating judges, but analysis shows conservative bias

MI – Bridge Michigan: Fact Squad: Gary Peters ad highlights attendance, hits back at John James

NC – WRAL: “Tillis falls further behind in Senate race”

NC – WFAE: In Presidential Race, Health Care Takes Backseat To Pandemic But Not In NC Senate Race

TX – San Antonio Current: Sen. John Cornyn runs TV ad touting his support of DREAM Act despite record of voting against it

TWEET OF THE WEEK

Lauren Passalacqua
@laurenvpass

Stewart Boss
@stew_boss

Helen Kalla
@helen_kalla

Shea Necheles
@sheanecheles

Regina Anderson
@reginasopinion

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