DSCC FRIDAY TAKEAWAYS: GOP’S ROSTER OF “BAD NEWS BEARS” IS SLUMPING – DSCC HITS MASTERS WITH HIS OWN WORDS – CRU-DI-DOH!

SWING-AND-A-MISS – THE GOP’S “BAD NEWS BEARS” SENATE ROSTER IS STRIKING OUT. It’s another bad week to be a Republican Senate Candidate – their roster of deeply flawed candidates continues to make headlines for all the wrong reasons.

• National Journal: “How did they end up with a certifiable Bad News Bears roster of contenders? McConnell and NRSC Chairman Rick Scott seceded the primary process to Trump. The former president helped get Oz and Vance across contentious primary and who helped keep Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R) and New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) on the Senate sidelines. Candidates matter, as McConnell notes, and bad candidates mean bad results.”

• Cook Political Report: “Nightmares of Sharron Angle, Christine O’Donnell, Todd Akin and Richard Mourdock are taunting Republican lawmakers and Senate strategists as fears grow that this midterm cycle could be 2010 and 2012 all over again. Plagued with weak, divisive candidates in many key races, the palpable trepidation among a dozen GOP insiders we spoke to is that… their efforts to win back Senate control will fall short.”

• POLITICO Playbook: “Republicans’ hopes of retaking the Senate rest on a slate of Donald Trump’s hand-picked nominees. And, across the board, they appear to be struggling… ‘Senate campaigns are candidate-versus-candidate battles,’ said the DSCC’s David Bergstein. ‘And right now, the Republican roster of recruits, it’s looking like a bunch of rotten crudités.’”

• MSNBC – Hallie Jackson Reports (WATCH): “McConnell having a little bit of deja vu from 2010 and 2012 when Republicans… nominated a slate of unelectable, extreme candidates.”

CRUDITÉS, 10 HOUSES, AND SEX ROBOTS – ALL IN A WEEK’S WORK FOR MEHMET OZ. It’s one cruditésMichael, how much could it cost? Oz’s veggie gaffe was just the start of an impressively brutal week that included a bombshell report from the Daily Beast revealing how wildly out-of-touch Dr. Oz is that he doesn’t even know how many properties he owns. The Wonkette also uncovered some eyepopping footage showing of some of Oz’s strangest, and most disturbing show segments.

• The Daily Beast: Video Shows Dr. Oz Saying He Has Two Houses. He Actually Has 10.  “According to public records, Dr. Oz owns 10 properties: A 9,000-square-foot mansion in New Jersey; a 7,000-square-foot country house in Pennsylvania; a condo in New Jersey; a piece of residential real estate in Sariyer, Turkey; another piece of residential real estate in Sariyer, Turkey; a Manhattan condo; another Manhattan condo; an oceanside mansion in Palm Beach, Florida; a cattle farm in Okeechobee, Florida; and a piece of residential property in Konya, Turkey, which appears to be used as a student dormitory.”

• MSNBC – All In With Chris Hayes (WATCH): “…a rich out of touch buffoon who does not live in nor understand the state he is ostensibly running to represent.”

• New York Magazine: A Guide to the Many Houses Mehmet Oz Forgot He Owns. “Days after Mehmet Oz became the first American politician to ever be embroiled in a crudités scandal, he’s facing a new controversy that sheds some light on his inability to purchase and consume raw vegetables like an average Joe.”

• Wonkette: Dr. Oz Is The Sex Robot Candidate For Pennsylvania Senate. “You might’ve thought Dr. Oz just pushed snake oil remedies and fad diets on his show, but no, he found time for sex robots! (Roxxy was built in New Jersey and is probably still a resident, so she unfortunately can’t vote for Dr. Oz.)”

• Heartland Signal: Dr. Oz has a rough week. “This week, after a botched campaign video in a grocery store, Pennsylvania Senate GOP nominee Dr. Mehmet Oz faced scrutiny for falsely claiming he only owns two homes.”

DSCC LAUNCHES FIRST GENERAL ELECTION AD BLITZ AGAINST MASTERS USING HIS OWN WORDS. This week, the DSCC launched its first general election advertising campaign against Blake Masters – and expanded the campaign with an additional digital spot. The television, digital, and radio spots highlight how Masters is not like normal Arizonans – he has dangerous beliefs and plans that are deeply out of step with the state’s values and would be harmful to Arizona’s families. “

• ABC News: In key Arizona race, Senate Dems try to highlight Blake Masters’ abortion, Social Security comments. “The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) on Tuesday launched its first ad campaign of the general election cycle against Republican Blake Masters … Arizona voters will wake up in the West to television, digital and radio spots trying to depict Masters as ‘not like normal Arizonans,’ as part of a previously announced $33 million independent expenditure reservation from the DSCC, which has a particular interest in protecting incumbents like Kelly.”

WATCH: “Walk Away”	WATCH: “His Own Words”

DOUBLIN’ DOWN RON – ROJO CONTINUES CALLS TO UPEND SOCIAL SECURITY AND PASS A FEDERAL ABORTION BAN. RonJohnson’s repeated calls for privatizing Social Security and implementing a national abortion ban will prove to be deeply unpopular with Wisconsin voters in November. 

• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Sen. Ron Johnson says Social Security ‘was set up improperly’ and would have been better invested in the stock market. “Weeks after saying Social Security and Medicare should be subjected to annual budget talks — a stance that caused political blow back from his foes — Johnson once again weighed into America’s signature social insurance program. During a Wednesday campaign stop in Rice Lake, Johnson said Social Security ‘was set up improperly’ and that the system’s funds would have been better off invested in the stock market.”

• Washington Post: Sen. Johnson suggests Congress could impose abortion limits after states decide.“Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) suggested that Congress could consider limits on abortion after ‘the people in every state’ decide on the issue, in the wake of the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, which for nearly 50 years guaranteed the right to an abortion in the United States.”

NEW HAMPSHIRE GOP PRIMARY GETS WICKED NASTY –  “SENATE HOPEFULS LOB BARBS AT EACH OTHER” IN “FIESTY” DEBATES. With under a month to go, infighting in the New Hampshire GOP Senate primary is heating up – news coverage is highlighting how’ “the five major US Senate Republican candidates sparred’ and ‘attacked each other for past statements and temperament’ in two recent ‘feisty’ debates as the candidates “raced to the right.”

• New Hampshire Union Leader: Four of five Senate hopefuls lob barbs at each other. “Four of the five major candidates for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate attacked each other for past statements and temperament during a feisty two-hour radio debate Tuesday.”

• NBC News: New Hampshire Republican Senate hopefuls trash FBI, 2020 election results on debate stage. “Republican candidates in a New Hampshire Senate primary debate over the weekend raced to the right, casting doubt on the 2020 election and discrediting the FBI after the recent search of former President Donald Trump’s home.”

• The Pulse of NH: The Five Major US Senate Republican Candidates Sparred In Our Live Debate On GMNH“Kevin Smith seemed to be the aggressor when it came to criticizing the frontrunner Don Bolduc over different positions he has said as a candidate. Smith claimed that bulldog shoots first and then tries to restate what he said on issues ranging from foreign policy to the FBI or on criticisms about Governor Chris Sununu. Smith also criticized Senator Chuck Morse for supposedly voting for federal funding for planned Parenthood something more said was not accurate.”

BUCKEYE STATE BOMBSHELL – AP REPORTS THAT “VANCE’S ANTI-DRUG CHARITY ENLISTED DOCTOR ECHOING BIG PHARMA.” Read key details from the bombshell report:

→ Associated Press: Vance’s anti-drug charity enlisted doctor echoing Big Pharma.

• When JD Vance founded ‘Our Ohio Renewal’ a day after the 2016 presidential election, he promoted the charity as a vehicle for helping solve the scourge of opioid addiction…But Vance shuttered the nonprofit last year shortly after clinching the state’s Republican nomination for U.S. Senate, according to state records reviewed by The Associated Press.

• An AP review found that the charity’s most notable accomplishment — sending an addiction specialist to Ohio’s Appalachian region for a yearlong residency — was tainted by ties among the doctor, the institute that employed her and Purdue Pharma, the manufacturer of OxyContin.

• Longtime Ohio political observer Herb Asher cast the charity’s shortcomings, including Satel’s links to Big Pharma, as a “betrayal.”

HERSCHEL WALKER IN PAID PARTNERSHIP WITH MARKETING COMPANY PREYING ON VETERANS. New reporting this week revealed that Herschel Walker is involved with a second company that “may also have targeted veterans in a multilevel marketing scheme.” The report follows an earlier bombshell story from the AP which revealed Walker’s ties to a private hospital chain’s for-profit program that “preyed upon veterans and service members while defrauding the government.”

• American Independent: Herschel Walker in paid partnership with marketing company accused of preying on veterans. “Republican Georgia Senate nominee Herschel Walker has been under fire for misrepresenting his work for a for-profit company accused of exploiting veterans and service members. But it appears that another controversial company for which he worked may also have targeted veterans in a multilevel marketing scheme.”

BIG BANK BUDD – NORTH CAROLINA REPUBLICAN SIDES WITH BANKS & CORPORATIONS OVER FAMILIES. New reporting from The American Independent reveals that Ted Budd sided with banks as they poured money into his campaign coffers. The report comes as Budd continues to get called out for siding with corporations over Tar Heel State families.

• American Independent: GOP Senate nominee Ted Budd sided with banks as they poured money into his campaigns. “North Carolina Republican Rep. Ted Budd received numerous industry donations after votes to lift a cap on debit card transaction fees and to prevent financial companies from having to provide credit scores to customers.”

• Cardinal & Pine (Opinion): Ted Budd ‘Chose Corporations Over Families’ By Voting Against Climate Change Bill. “Ted Budd likes to point fingers and pass blame for rising prices, but when it comes to working to lower costs he’s actively opposing measures that would help North Carolinians save on anything from their prescriptions, gas, and energy bills.”

OPPOSING LOWER INSULIN PRICES WILL BE COSTLY – DSCC LAUNCHES NEW AD BLASTING RUBIO AND JOHNSON FOR VOTING AGAINST $35 CAP.  A new ad calling out Senate Republicans like Johnson and Rubio for voting against legislation lowering the cost of insulin came out this week. The five-figure digital campaign will reach voters interested in prescription drugs on news, law, and politics websites and will direct individuals to a webpage with additional information about Johnson and Rubio’s vote.

• The Hill: Democrats hit Rubio, Johnson with ad on insulin cap vote.“‘Senate Republicans like Johnson and Rubio cast an ugly vote against a popular policy that will lower the cost of insulin for Americans. Johnson and Rubio showed they care more about their Big Pharma political donors than lowering costs for working families — and voters will hold them accountable in November,’ DSCC spokesperson Nora Keefe said in a statement.”

• Roll Call: Democrats take insulin prices to the airwaves…“The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee launched a five-figure digital effort Monday targeting Republican Sens. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Marco Rubio of Florida in what seemed to be a preview of broader efforts heading toward fall.”

NEVADANS SLAM LAXALT’S ANTI-CHOICE RECORD & PEDDLING OF THE BIG LIE. Two brutal op-eds this week are slamming Laxalt for his “medically inaccurate and quite simply untrue” statements on abortion, and for “downplaying of the deadly Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.” 

• Reno Gazette Journal (Opinion):Laxalt’s column inaccurate, inflammatory. “Republican candidate for U.S. Senate Adam Laxalt published an opinion piece in this newspaper filled with disinformation and inflammatory statements intended to mislead the public. Laxalt falsely claimed that Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto voted to allow ‘infanticide,’ which is, of course, already illegal. Laxalt chose this term, used by anti-choice activists and politicians, to falsely describe abortion later in pregnancy or post-birth palliative care. His statements were written to cause alarm, are medically inaccurate and quite simply untrue.”

• Nevada Independent (Opinion): Trump-loving Laxalt’s law-and-order rhetoric rings hollow. “To no one’s surprise, Laxalt jumped to attention in blind support of Trump… It was about what you’d expect from a guy who energetically promoted Trump’s Big Lie about widespread voter fraud in the face of the facts. Given Laxalt’s downplaying of the deadly Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, an event which saw law enforcement officers killed and injured, it would have been more surprising if he’d exercised his right to remain silent.”

JUST THIS WEEK, THANKS TO SENATE DEMOCRATS

→ Senate Democrats Focus On Lowering Costs & Supporting Working Families During August State Work Period. Voters are reading and watching a wave of news coverage highlighting how Senate Democrats are focusing on working families’ most pressing priorities: lowering costs and cutting the debt by making Big Pharma and wealthy corporations pay their fair share, improving our supply chains by making more products in America, expanding health care for our veterans, and rebuilding their state’s infrastructure.

• AZ – KJZZ: Sen. Mark Kelly joins AARP to celebrate changes to Medicare prescription drugs. “Sen. Mark Kelly spoke at an AARP Arizona roundtable on Wednesday about what he called an ‘historic piece of legislation.’ ‘The people that have to make hard choices that, in our country today, nobody should really have to decide whether to buy groceries, or make a decision to cut the pills in half and take half a dose, or in some cases, not take the medication at all,’ he said.”

• GA – Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Climate bill could be a game changer for Georgia solar. Here’s why. “The bill contains a raft of incentives — many of which were championed by Georgia Senators Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock — aimed at growing domestic solar and clean energy supply chains.”

• NV – KOLO: Catherine Cortez Masto announces millions in funding for Nevada’s economy. “‘I’m working to help Nevadans in my home town of Las Vegas and around the state find good-paying jobs in exciting industries like hospitality, tourism, technology, and manufacturing,’ said Cortez Masto. ‘This grant funding will make a real difference in Southern Nevada for vital industries and workers and support our continued economic recovery.’”

• NH – Manchester Ink Link: Hassan joins local advocates in touting Inflation Reduction Act’s passage. “U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH) held a press conference at Amoskeag Health with local healthcare advocates, medical professionals and area residents impacted by pharmaceutical costs to celebrate the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act last weekend by the U.S. Senate.”

IN THE STATES

AZ – Phoenix News Times: Blake Masters Plays Dress Up in the Racist Ways You’d Expect. “Blake Masters, Arizona’s Republican nominee for U.S. Senate, has a penchant for spouting provocative takes. But a new host of racist material advocating for his campaign has cropped up online and on the streets of Phoenix. It’s more controversial than his typical bombast.”

CO – Colorado Sun (Opinion): Joe O’Dea’s pitch to Colorado workers rings hollow. “Republican Senate nomineee Joe O’Dea will try to use working Coloradans to push him to victory, but working Coloradans will see past this dishonest attempt because of O’Dea’s troubling record of hurting workers, his anti-union position, and the simple fact that his campaign is not powered by working people.”

FL – Florida Phoenix: ‘Absences grab voters’ attention’: Rep. Demings criticizes Sen. Rubio’s missed votes in Congress. “The former Orlando police chief says Rubio, a Republican, ‘is one of the worst at showing up. And when he does, he hurts Florida,’ Demings said in a new campaign ad last week.”

NH – Manchester Ink Link: Hassan announces endorsements from six dozen NH small business leaders. “‘Senator Hassan is a fighter for small businesses like the Bookery and has a long record of supporting innovation and entrepreneurship in New Hampshire — and that’s why I am proud to endorse her re-election,’ said  Liz Hitchcock. ‘As a founder of a startup, along with a book store, I know that supporting small businesses and innovative startups helps to strengthen our entire economy.’”

NC – Indy Week (Opinion): Beasley Is the Clean Water Candidate in U.S. Senate Race.“This November, our tap water and our long-term health are on the ballot. We must elect Cheri Beasley and ensure voices in southeastern North Carolina are heard loud and clear. She is a clean water candidate and Clean Cape Fear fully endorses her work.”

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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