Appearing on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Labor Day morning, former Rep. Dave Jolly (R-FL) said the Republicans’ chances of taking control of the Senate are quickly slipping away because of terrible candidates in three key states as well as internal turmoil among the party’s leadership over massive amounts of money that have been spent ineffectively by Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) who chairs the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC).
Speaking with host Jonathan Lemire, a bemused Jolly noted Scott has put the party behind the eight-ball which has his fellow senators furious with him.
Add to that, three of the candidates handpicked to be the nominees for Senate seats — two currently being held by Republicans — are floundering as the money runs out, he pointed out.
According to a report from the New York Times, “By the end of July, the committee [NRSC] had collected a record $181.5 million — but had already spent more than 95 percent of what it had brought in. The Republican group entered August with just $23.2 million on hand, less than half of what the Senate Democratic committee had ahead of the final intense phase of the midterm elections.”
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“Florida Senator Rick Scott greenlit massive spending on digital ads, not to promote candidates for Senate but to discover small contributors. while it initially brought in large amounts of donations,” host Lemire explained. “It’s since stopped and by the end of July, the committee collected a record amount of money but spent nearly all of it; entering August with $23 million on hand and they’re raising less before the digital spending campaign. David, let me get your reaction to this. It’s not going to help Republican candidates, many of whom already staring up at their Democratic opponents in the polls.”
“It is a bit of a Washington parlor game,” the former House member explained. “The head of the congressional committees or the senatorial committees for the parties can make or break a career. I’d much rather be [Rep] Sean Patrick Maloney leading the DCC than Rick Scott leading the NRSC.”
“He is about to hit a brick wall in the senate,” he continued. “Complete mismanagement there. I think what we’re seeing nationally is, where Republicans thought November would be favorable, they realize now they are in a challenging environment with that Dobbs decision that stripped abortion rights. Donald Trump is back in the picture, which is not good for republicans.”
“Then the Republican Senate Committee, in particular, has what I call a GOP problem: Georgia, Ohio, and Pennsylvania,” he quipped. “They have terrible candidates. Now, we’re learning the top of the Senatorial committee, Rick Scott, terribly mismanaged the finances that should be there to support their candidates. A terrible, terrible moment for Rick Scott; somebody who is dying to find a lane to the presidency. That line, if it’d not already closed, let me tell you, it is closed for the next five to ten years now.”
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