DC cuts off Whatley
It’s sort of been like DRIP-DRIP-DRIP. There are three big fundraising players in GOP Senate races. We already heard about two of them cutting back spending on the Michael Whatley campaign. Now we’re hearing about the third one – a big one, at that – announcing changes in their approach to Whatley and his campaign:
Senate Republicans’ top super PAC is making a tactical change, pausing its ad campaign in North Carolina’s Senate race and launching a new one in Kansas.
Senate Leadership Fund is plowing seven figures into Kansas to help incumbent Republican Sen. Roger Marshall against Democrat Adam Hamilton. After spending more than $30 million in North Carolina’s Senate race, the super PAC is putting further spending there on hold. A Trump-aligned group also has no further spending on the books past this week either, according to Ad Impact.
“SLF’s job is to maintain the majority and this move reflects the most effective and efficient use of resources to do exactly that,” said a person familiar with the plans. The group also recently boosted its spending in Senate races in Ohio and Iowa.
The move to shore up Marshall and put North Carolina on the back burner reflects a shifting Senate battleground map – and Republican Michael Whatley’s struggles in North Carolina against former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper. Another GOP group cut millions in North Carolina ad reservations last week and some Republicans have been urging their allies to concentrate on other Senate races. […]
Senate Republicans currently hold 53 seats, including North Carolina and Kansas, and can afford to lose up to three seats to keep the majority. […]
The story about Senate majority leader John Thune coming to Charlotte on Thursday had us – and many other observers – a bit perplexed. Things had been looking bad for Whatley for a while, and the two other PACs had already announced their spending cuts.
The visit was portrayed as a fundraiser by some – but that didn’t pass the smell test. Some insiders tell us that was Thune coming to deliver the bad news to Whatley in person. The SLF cash “pause” hit the news late Thursday and early Friday.
The infuriating part about all this? The Trump White House’s political office has been running Whatley’s campaign since Day One. The White House cleared the field early on, telling any other potential candidates: “Don’t even think about it. Michael is Don’s boy.”
Our site is full of comments from people telling conservatives to shut up and deal with it. According to them, Whatley is – and was – the only one who could beat Cooper. The only one.
But here they go cutting funding to “the only one who can beat Roy Cooper” one month before the election.
Some people are already making excuses. Who could have done better, they ask. Since they strong-armed everyone they could out of the primary, I guess we’ll never know for sure.
Primaries are great for vetting candidates and building support within the base. This is the second major election – in just as many years – where The White House cleared the primary field and crammed a very flawed candidate down our throats. Are we – hopefully – finally learning a lesson about this behavior?
Tillis got forced out thanks to polling showing him losing to Cooper – and just about anyone else – by nine. Remember, that Tillis is still here because – in 2020 – the Trump White House chased off a serious primary opponent and endorsed Thom for reelection. All that help greatly assisted Tillis in pulling out a whisker-thin win that year.
Who could have done better than Whatley? I’m not sure about the level of interest out there, but I can name a few: Dan Bishop, Garland Tucker, Mark Harris, Brad Knott, and Pat Harrigan. Each of them has a lot more substance to them than Michigan Mike does.
Barring a David v. Goliath or “Dewey Defeats Truman” finish to this election, we’re going to get Senator Roy Cooper for at least six years.
While you’re at it – keep an eye on the two other races (NC-11 and NC-01) in North Carolina that are currently being run by the DC GOP. Those are not looking good either.
It’s a shame because it really didn’t have to be this way. Know-it-all insiders need to learn a real lesson about strong-arming and meddling. Or we’re going to keep dealing with scenarios like this over and over and over again.
