ICYMI: Rick Scott getting rolled as NRSC chairman [National Journal]

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

National Journal: Rick Scott getting rolled as NRSC chairman
By Josh Kraushaar
March 9, 2022

Key Points:

• Sen. Rick Scott, the chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee … has failed to land top candidates.

• And he’s now promoting his own 11-point conservative policy manifesto that calls for every American to pay taxes, a position that’s at odds with the interests of the candidates he’s hoping will lead his party to the Senate majority.

• Republican strategists are flummoxed that the chairman would clumsily insert himself into the campaign conversation when his main job is to be a team player and do whatever it takes to help Republican candidates running for office.

• Democrats are already planning on airing ads using Scott’s plan to argue Republicans want to raise taxes, a helpful talking point… The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee went up with a radio ad accusing Republicans of wanting to “raise taxes on half of Americans” immediately after the plan’s release.

• Scott’s stumble would be more forgivable if he had been able to tout a banner recruiting class. But he has failed to convince three popular Republican governors to run for the Senate.

• Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey reiterated that he’s not running for the Senate last week, despite… the lackluster standing of GOP candidates already in the race. His decision followed New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu’s decision to pass on a Senate contest, leaving Republicans without a familiar face running in another critical battleground.

• One source who was advising a prospective recruit said that Scott’s sales pitch fell flat in part because he didn’t address the elephant in the room: Donald Trump’s aggressive engagement in Republican primaries.

• If battle-tested Republican governors wanted reassurance that they would get support from the national party if they took fire from Trump-aligned opponents, they didn’t receive that promise from the party chairman.

• All told, the roster of Republican recruits in states with pickup opportunities is at best untested.

• In Georgia, Republicans have united behind the campaign of former football star Herschel Walker, a first-time candidate who has… been shaky in interviews, even with friendly outlets. He’s also contending with past reports of domestic abuse.

• In Nevada, former Attorney General Adam Laxalt is the GOP front-runner, but he is coming off a loss in his last statewide campaign and hasn’t raised money like a front-line recruit. Without Ducey, the field in Arizona is wide open, with none of the candidates standing out or raising much money so far.

• In New Hampshire…Sununu and former Sen. Kelly Ayotte passed on campaigns.

• Scott appears to be already looking ahead to 2024 even as winning the Senate majority in 2022 is far from a sure thing.

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