Rick Scott defends early-spending cash strategy: We 'defined' Democrats early
The NRSC has been criticized for spending most of its fundraising haul early
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Rick Scott pushed back on assertions the GOP's campaign arm blew through its campaign cash haul prematurely, as several Republicans in key races remain behind their Democratic opponents after hundreds of millions in supportive spending.
The Florida senator told "The Story" that emptying much of the coffers early in support of Senate candidates was wise because it helped the party define both the candidate and opponent before the Democrats could do so.
"We did the right thing. We spent early," he said. "Here's the problem with campaigns: If you wait until the last month, there's too much static. There's too much noise out there."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"So what we did as soon as our candidates got through their primaries, we started helping them. We put up ads with them to talk about what they believed in. And we started early on, we started defining the Democrats."
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Senator Rick Scott speaks during CPAC Texas (Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Scott expressed confidence his strategy will lead Republicans to hold their 50-seat caucus and potentially flip the chamber back to Republican hands, which is possible with only one net win.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Pushing back on polls showing key seats favoring Democrats, in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Georgia, Colorado and elsewhere, Scott said the Democrats vying for the six top swing seats all have negative popularity approvals.
Fox News host Martha MacCallum pointed to incumbent Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., a key lawmaker on several committees and one who has been studying the Hunter Biden scandal along with Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa.
Johnson's opponent, Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, is leading by about a half-dozen points.
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President Joe Biden speaks at a rally with Maryland Democrats (Bryan Dozier/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
"We're going to keep our hardest races to keep," Scott said. "Ron Johnson is going to win. We've invested with him."
Scott clarified his "define the candidate" strategy — pointing to how Republicans lost both Georgia Senate races in 2020.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}He said the GOP failed to invest in "defining" then-candidate Raphael Warnock, and many voters simply presumed the Peach State would remain in Republican hands.
"We're defining the Democrats," he said. "We're helping our Republicans who went through tough primaries. And they're now doing really well. We're being competitive."
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Donald Trump offers a thumbs-up in New York City. (James Devaney/GC Images)
Scott also criticized President Biden and the Democrats for sounding the alarm on "MAGA Republicans" and their supposed "threat to democracy" — while the party has simultaneously aired ads and appeared to support Trump-backed GOP candidates in their primaries.
In Pennsylvania, Attorney General Josh Shapiro spent nearly $855,000 during the primary season to boost now-Republican nominee Doug Mastriano, according to The Washington Post.
The ads called the retired Army colonel and state senator from Gettysburg one of Trump's "strongest supporters" — and reportedly accounted for more than twice the advertising spending Mastriano invested in his own primary campaign.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Democrats similarly invested in conservative candidates in House and Senate primaries, which observers credit in the case of Michigan Republican John Gibbs defeating incumbent Rep. Peter Meijer, who voted to impeach Trump.
In Maryland, Democrats boosted now–GOP gubernatorial nominee Dan Cox, a Trump-backed state delegate who is at the same time being opposed by incumbent Gov. Larry Hogan.
Cox previously attempted to impeach Hogan over Maryland's COVID-19 restrictions and has tried to burnish a conservative record similar to how Democrats portrayed him. One Democratic ad called Cox "100% pro-life" and a defender of gun rights.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Democratic nominee Wes Moore had introduced Biden at the now-famous Rockville rally where the president branded Trumpism "semi-fascist" — with the gubernatorial hopeful reportedly introducing the president by describing Cox as "not an opponent, he's a threat."
"They know they can't win on their policies, so they're going to try to play in our primaries," Scott said of Democrats' overall strategy in that realm.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"They did it in Colorado. It didn't work," Scott as, as GOP nominee Joe O'Dea bested Ron Hanks — the latter of whom Democrat-aligned groups had boosted.
"They're doing it in New Hampshire right now. You know, citizens are smart. They're going to pick the best person for what they believe in at the time."
He added that Biden is underwater in most if not all swing states, and criticized his mounting crises from the economy to the Mexican border.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Nobody wants to be around this guy other than people he's paying to work for him in the White House."