Senate Republicans see the writing on the wall with Mehmet Oz and are pulling money out of Pennsylvania and putting it elsewhere.
The NRSC officials on the call “brought to everyone’s attention that there’s definitely a path to winning the Senate even if Oz loses, and that seemed to be a very big concern on the call — is that Oz just has not hit his stride as a candidate,” the person on the call last week said. “The viewpoint was it’s more important to reallocate money to seats that we feel we can win.”
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“We have a path with Pennsylvania, and don’t worry, we have a path without Pennsylvania,” an NRSC official said on the mid-July call, according to another person who participated in the call.
If Republicans are talking about other paths to take back the Senate without Pennsylvania, it is a sign that they see what people in the Keystone State are seeing. Oz is a bad candidate who doesn’t appeal to swing voters or Republicans in the state. Oz is very unpopular, and the attack that he is not from Pennsylvania is resonating strongly with voters across the spectrum in the state, and it is difficult to see how Oz catches up if he continues on the current trajectory.
Republicans are kidding themselves if they think that they still have a path to the Senate if they lose Pennsylvania. Republicans are facing tough Senate races in Georgia, North Carolina, Ohio, and Wisconsin, along with Pennsylvania.
It is unlikely that the GOP bails on Oz before October, but if the GOP starts moving money out of Pennsylvania, it will be a signal that they are giving on Pennsylvania.
Mr. Easley is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
