Did Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) think we wouldn’t notice that the Republican chances for retaking the Senate are not great right now? Given the serial failures of the Biden administration, especially regarding getting inflation under control and the economy moving again, there is ample time to turn things around for a bunch of struggling Senate candidates. Scott vacationing in Italy, however, is an unforced error that I’d expect from Joe, not the man tasked with regaining the majority in the upper chamber (via Axios):
Scott is the chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, whose job is to win back a GOP majority in the upper chamber. Republicans' prospects for winning back the Senate have been worsening over the course of the summer, according to polling and analysis.
Scott is already under fire for his management of the committee.
Vacationing in Europe while Republicans face cash problems and rough headlines about their midterm chances could further hurt his standing with his GOP colleagues.
The big picture: Scott has been taking heat from Republican detractors who have criticized his job of recruiting strong candidates and managing the committee's spending this cycle.
Republican candidates are underperforming across the Senate landscape. Trump-endorsed nominees are trailing in must-win states like Pennsylvania and Arizona. A top Republican super PAC was forced to spend $28 million backing author J.D. Vance's campaign in GOP-friendly Ohio.
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Scott has made unconventional decisions running the committee. The NRSC spent over $40 million early in the cycle, in part because many candidates have struggled to pay for television ads without help from outside organizations, draining the party of resources for the home stretch.
The committee canceled bookings in Pennsylvania, Arizona and Wisconsin last week, according to the Washington Post, forfeiting the cheaper rates that came from booking early.
Several of the key battleground areas Republicans need to spend in — Phoenix, Las Vegas, Atlanta and Philadelphia — are top media markets and expensive for ad buys.
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Scott has taken a hands-off approach to Republican primaries, not favoring any candidates in open contests.
Both Scott and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell were unable to recruit two popular governors — Arizona's Doug Ducey and New Hampshire's Chris Sununu — who would have faced better odds of flipping Democratic-held seats.
By the numbers: At the end of July, the NRSC reported just $23.2 million cash-on-hand. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee reported $54.1 million in its account, more than double the GOP amount.
The GOP was riding on political winds that were gale force strength heading into the 2022 midterms. You couldn’t ask for a better form of political gunpowder to manufacture ammunition to shred the Biden agenda. The script was writing itself at some points, but there was also the genuine possibility that the Republican Party could blow it, and they are right now. That recent anti-gun package that a slew of Republican senators signed off on was a warning sign. When Biden’s approvals were in the 30s, it was the GOP’s midterm election cycle to lose. No one wants Joe Biden near them right now.
As we leave the dog days of summer, the Senate Republican chances have dwindled as the National Republican Senatorial Committee has offered little to no help. The fundraising effort has little to be desired, and Mitch McConnell delivered the coup de grace remarks about the situation on the ground when he declared the GOP has little to no chance of retaking the chamber this year. Weeks away from Election Day, the leader of Senate Republicans is already engulfed in defeatism.
The Federalist’s Mollie Hemingway ripped Mitch for giving up, and rightfully so, noting that the candidates running are not as bad as the Kentucky Republican insinuated in his statements about candidate quality. There are plenty of flaws in the candidates on the Democratic side to highlight for campaign fodder. And where is the chair of the NRSC? He’s on a yacht in Italy. Scott shot himself in the foot even more since he criticized Biden for going on vacation instead of working. It's an incident where there is no defending Scott, especially since he’s allowed the Senate map to deteriorate on his watch.
This backlash is not the first time Scott has been called out for doing a piss-poor job at the NRSC. In April, The Washington Post had a lengthy post about lingering criticisms of Scott’s tenure, specifically that he’s using the NRSC to better his fundraising position at the expense of the rest of the party (via WaPo):
Sen. Rick Scott of Florida has been publicly dressed down by Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, privately rebuked by his colleagues and repeatedly accused of running the National Republican Senatorial Committee in a way that benefits his own future over the candidates he was hired to get elected.
He has directed a sizable share of his fundraising as NRSC chair to his own accounts, while shifting digital revenue away from Senate campaigns and buying ads promoting himself that look all but identical to spots he does for the national committee.
But during the seven weeks of turmoil since Scott dropped a provocative conservative policy bomb on an unsuspecting party — a plan that called for tax increases and expiration dates for all federal laws, including those establishing Social Security and Medicare — he has not once expressed regret. Instead, the former hospital chain CEO and two-term governor, the richest man in the Senate, argues that he owes his detractors nothing.
“My whole life has been people telling me that, you know, you’re doing it the wrong way. You can’t, you shouldn’t be doing this,” he said in a recent interview at NRSC headquarters. “I’ve been up here for three years. Do you know how many people have come to me and asked me, before they vote, what my opinion is on something and whether it’s good for my state? That would be zero.”
Barbs like these from the inner sanctum of GOP leadership toward his fellow senators and political operatives have cut unexpected fissures into what appears to be a banner election year for Republicans, who are a single seat away from majority control of the Senate. Private grumbling about how Scott has turned the NRSC into the “National Rick Scott Committee” has become widespread enough in some Republican circles that other jokes have been added. “All this, for 4 percent in Iowa,” is the punchline of one about the harm he could do to Republican fortunes in November in pursuit of national ambitions.
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A change to how the NRSC fundraises with incumbents has become another friction point. Under Scott’s predecessor, senators who signed fundraising emails with the committee or allowed their images to be used in NRSC digital ads were given 50 percent of the revenue and the names of the donors.
Under Scott, the committee has offered candidates 10 percent of the haul and the donor names, with the rest going to the NRSC. Scott advisers say the change prevents the committee from losing money on appeals that raise little money, thus strengthening the NRSC overall. But the change comes as other Republican efforts are trying to funnel more money directly to candidates, because they are able to get better pricing on television advertising than the party committees.
The publication added that Scott is okay with going to war with Mitch McConnell, who reportedly scorched him for his committee management. Bashing Mitch, or being an adversary, played well with voters outside of DC, which brings us to another potential life goal for Scott following 2022. He might be using the chairmanship as a springboard to run for president, which is what some of his predecessors have done following their time at the NRSC. The only difference is Scott’s predecessors won elections.
In the meantime, Scott’s on a boat, and don’t expect any apologies either. The Florida Republican has been unapologetic about most things.