Good morning folks,
Back in December, Harry Reid and his liberal allies bragged that they had pulled off a coup by having President Obama send Max Baucus off to China so they could hand John Walsh a seat in the Senate a year before the election. At the time, Politico reported that, “Democrats argue that appointing Walsh to the Senate seat nearly a year before the election would give him a leg up against Daines, a member of the House, when the vote takes place. ‘There are different perks that come with incumbency, and one of them is the support of the establishment,’ said a Democrat familiar with Montana politics.” Yet Reid’s maneuvering has turned out to be a disaster, exposing how in over his head John Walsh is as a Senator (that is when anyone can find him).
As Lt. Governor, no one (including the Governor) seemed capable of explaining what John Walsh did on a daily basis. As a Senator, Walsh has been MIA. His lone notable action is a proposal to cancel Senate recesses until adopting a budget resolution that balances the books by 2024. The irony is that minutes after Senator Walsh proposed the legislation, the Senate unanimously agreed to recess without objections from the struggling new Senator (since, you know, the budget hadn’t been balanced). Even more hypocritically, Walsh then left Washington to visit New York City for some speech giving and political hobnobbing.
Even more noteworthy, last week Representative Steve Daines was among the first in the country to call upon Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki to resign following recent reports of VA hospitals purposely hiding delays in treatments and problems resulting in preventable deaths of veterans awaiting health care services. John Walsh rushed to Shinseki’s defense, bizarrely blaming Daines for problems at the VA.
Walsh’s utter cluelessness shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, considering that his management has come under fire before. It is well known that Walsh poorly managed federal money at Montana Department of Military Affairs. It isn’t a secret that he was named as a defendant in sex based favoritism lawsuits. He was even reprimanded by a Senior Army Official, who questioned his ability to lead. Let’s not even begin to talk about the Senator’s social media predilections.
Walsh, who is embroiled in a Democratic primary, has run an inept campaign and trails Republican Steve Daines by double digits. He’s also proven to be an inept Senator, even when it comes to defending our nation’s veterans. Democratic Senator John Tester is now coming under fire for defending General Shinseki and ridiculously claiming that the VA is doing a “pretty darn good job.” It begs the question, Where’s Walsh-O?
Seize the day,
Brad Dayspring
@BDayspring
Brook Hougesen
@Brook_H
2014 BATTLEGROUND SONAR
(2014) Harry Reid’s Senate Blockade
But why not force the vote now? If Ms. Landrieu really had Keystone as a top priority, as she claims, she’d have joined Republicans in demanding an immediate amendment to a bill that she knows the White House is reluctant to veto. And she’d have insisted that Mr. Reid allow a 50-vote threshold for passage, rather than Mr. Reid’s 60-vote supermajority. Ms. Landrieu instead is playing Mr. Reid’s double game, demanding a Keystone vote even as she undermines its passage.
(WEST VIRGINIA) Capito, Tennant to face off in W.Va. Senate race
“The stakes are high,” Capito said Tuesday night. She said her priorities as a senator would be “ending the war on coal” and rolling back “Obamacare’s devastating effect” on small businesses. With more than $4 million in the bank, Capito has built a 4-to-1 cash advantage over Tennant by running as a moderate from the polarized, GOP-controlled House. She avoided a tea party-fueled challenge from the right, despite less-than-enthusiastic reviews of her voting record by well-funded conservative groups like Americans for Prosperity and the Heritage Foundation.
Must Watch Video: Shelley Moore Capito: Coal, Family, and West Virginia
NRSC Chairman Congratulates Capito on #WVSEN Primary Victory
West Virginia Democratic Senate Candidate Accused of Mismanagement
(NEBRASKA) 14 things to know about Ben Sasse, Nebraska’s next senator
Midland University President Ben Sasse on Tuesday won the Republican nomination to replace retiring Sen. Mike Johanns (R) this year. Democrats won’t contest the state this fall, making Sasse virtually a senator-in-waiting. But before jumping to conclusions that the tea party beat the establishment, note that Sasse doesn’t fit neatly into the outsider construct. Here are 14 things to know about Sasse, a candidate with an unusually diverse resume that includes time working within the system
NRSC Chairman Congratulates Sasse on #NESEN Primary Victory
(GEORGIA) Nunn criticzed by WSB, opponent for skipping debates
(MICHIGAN) Why Gary Peters won’t back the Keystone Pipeline
Peters has been consistently wrong in representing the interests and concerns of Michiganders. One look at his voting record shows he would rather support billionaires and special interest groups than Michigan families. Peters has rubberstamped President Obama’s agenda, voting with Obama an average of 87.5 percent of the time. It’s clear Peters doesn’t stand with Michigan families. As a career politician, he believes you have to talk-the-talk, but not walk-the-walk. While Peters’ campaign benefits from his relationship with billionaire Tom Steyer, Michiganians are being left behind. Michigan deserves a new voice in Washington, it is clear that Gary Peters is not that voice.
(ARKANSAS) Cotton leads in internal poll
Rep. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) is out with an internal poll showing him leading Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) in his race for the Senate, pushing back on recent public polling that has found Pryor ahead. Cotton leads Pryor by 42 percent to 40 percent in the live-caller poll of likely voters by GOP pollster On Message Inc.
(COLORADO) Energy group targets Mark Udall over Keystone pipeline
The American Energy Alliance is spending more than $400,000 to target U.S. Sen. Mark Udall over the Keystone pipeline project. “The simple truth: Americans needs jobs,” a narrator says in a new ad that airs begining Wednesday. “And the Keystone pipeline will create thousands of high-paying jobs.” Watch Video.
New Ad: Rep. Cory Gardner: Fighting for Common Sense Solutions
(ALASKA) Outside Dem groups dropping about $8 million into new pro-Begich ads
I found this on my Facebook feed on the day that I learned that the pro-Begich super-PAC, Put Alaska First, was buying as much as $4.6 million of television ads which will begin to run eight weeks before the election. Put Alaska First is about 90 percent funded by the Senate Majority PAC, which is run by former aides to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
(NORTH CAROLINA) Senate Majority PAC’s faulty tax math in the N.C. Senate race
On its face, it is pretty absurd to think that a tax reform bill that cut rates and eliminated tax loopholes ended up raising taxes on 80 percent of the people in the state. Broadly speaking, the wealthy do appear to gain more from the 2013 tax overhaul, but they also pay the lion’s share of income taxes. And 39 percent of the people appear to face a tax increase, including some of the wealthiest people in the state–not 80 percent, all at the bottom. Our old adage applies: If a factoid sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Senate Majority PAC should have checked the facts before rushing on the air with this ad.
New poll shows Hagan/Tillis race nearly even after primary wins
(KENTUCKY) McConnell to fly around state day before election
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell will spend Monday flying around Kentucky for campaign events on the eve of the state’s primary election. McConnell, who is seeking a sixth term, faces Louisville businessman Matt Bevin in the primary. McConnell will start at Louisville’s Bowman Field, then continue to northern Kentucky for an invitation-only event and Lexington in the morning.
POLLING BRIEF
On Message Inc. – May 6th-8th
Cotton leads Pryor 42% – 40%.
Cotton maintains his lead while Pryor remains mired in the low 40’s – all despite being subject to a massive onslaught of negative attack ads by both Pryor himself and third-party groups supporting him.
Fifty-four percent said they would prefer a “Republican who would be a check and balance to President Obama’s agenda”
Sixty percent opposed Obamacare, including a majority of voters (50%) who say they are “strongly” opposed.
ON THE TWITTERS
@Mediaite – Jon Stewart Trashes ‘Hypocrite’ Harry Reid over Koch Attacks http://bit.ly/1jqSUdN (VIDEO)
@alexis_levinson - In his victory speech, Sasse said: “We need to turn the Minority Leader into the Majority Leader,” according to someone present #NESEN
@ByronKoay - .@MichelleNunnGA I bet voters actually care about debating and discussing the issues https://www.americarisingpac.org/michelle-nunn-… #GASen
@collins_dc - Go Ben Go! NRSC Chairman Congratulates Sasse on #NESEN Primary Victory http://e.nrsc.org/t/j-9D7ABD2BDD …
@mngop - In 2013, @alfranken voted with Obama 100% of the time, ignoring the needs of MN families. http://bit.ly/1qArFY5 #FireFranken #mngop