Could Walker, Greitens, Oz Blow Midterms?
By: Sarah Rumpf (Mediaite)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
By Sarah RumpfJul 10th, 2022, 4:44 pm Twitter share button <?php // Post Body ?>
Fox News Sunday anchor Mike Emanuel asked Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) if problematic Republican candidates like Herschel Walker, Eric Greitens, and Mehmet Oz could cause the GOP to blow their opportunity to win back control of the Senate in the 2022 midterms.
"Senator, let's talk midterms," said Emanuel to introduce the topic. "Republicans believe they have a golden opportunity to win back the majority. But if candidates like Herschel Walker, Eric Greitens, and Doctor Oz are not winning over the voters, is there a possibility the GOP could blow this opportunity?"
The candidates Emanuel listed have all found their names in headlines for less-than-admirable reasons that have often overshadowed other news in their respective senate races.
Former football star Walker is trailing in the polls 10 points behind incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) after a series of troubling reports about domestic violence accusations against him, misrepresentations about his background, and bizarre conspiracies and rambling comments.
Then there was the secret child Walker had — oh wait, secret children — well, the current count is at three, and he reportedly lied to his own campaign staff about them. The scandal took the wind out of Walker's rants against absentee fathers, and certainly served as a distraction to the campaign.
Former Gov. Eric Greitens (R-MO) resigned from office in 2017 amid allegations of campaign finance violations and sexual assault of a woman he was dating, lurid accusations that even his fellow Republicans in the Missouri Legislature found to be credible. His ex-wife has also accused him of physically abusing her and their children. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) called for Greitens to drop out of the race, and conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt begged former President Donald Trumpnot to endorse Greitens.
Undeterred, Greitens has sought to portray himself as the most MAGAfied candidate in the GOP primary, releasing an aggressive video ad that offered "RINO Hunting Permits" to his contributors that was loudly denounced on both sides of the political aisle and removed or censored by major social media platforms. Greitens responded to the backlash by releasing yet another gun-centered ad spot — which came out on the same day that a former friend released a video message calling Greitens a "broken man" and urging him to drop out and "[t]ry to repair the damage you have done, to your family, your country, and yourself."
Oz has been heavily criticized for running for Senate in Pennsylvania when he doesn't seem to live there. After spending decades residing in New Jersey, Oz only registered to vote in the Keystone State in late 2020, using his in-laws' address, and was loudly mocked earlier this month for a campaign ad he filmed at his New Jersey mansion. A number of prominent conservatives — including Fox News host Laura Ingraham — lamented Trump's endorsement of Oz, but he squeaked out a narrow victory and the party is now stuck with him and his nutty comments, record of flip-flopping, and security concerns over his relationship with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoan.
None of these issues seemed to bother Barrasso, who stuck firmly to the party line and declared himself to be "very optimistic" about the GOP's chances in November.
"The number one issue is inflation," said Barrasso, adding that voters were looking to Republicans as the "solution on inflation, on energy, on the economy, on the chaos at the border, on crime in the cities."
Regarding Walker, Greitens, and Oz, Barrasso continued, "they understand their states" and "understand the pain that people are having in those states."
Meanwhile, he pointed out, Democratic candidates were refusing to be seen with President Joe Biden, mentioning an event in Ohio the previous week where the Democratic candidates for senate and governor did not attend.
"People are distancing themselves as Democrats from this administration," he concluded. "I'm very optimistic about our opportunities in November."
Watch the video above, via Fox News.
This article has been updated to correct a typo that Barrasso represents Wyoming, not Kentucky.
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Filed Under: 2022 electionDr. OzEric GreitensFox NewsFox News SundayHerschel WalkerJohn BarrassoMehmet OzMike Emanuel Previous PostNext Post Previous PostNext Post
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They are blowing it right now.
The Georgia senate election has grown to become an increasing problem for the Republican Party as football player Herschel Walker's past is coming back to haunt him.
Walker, who was recruited by former President Donald Trump, was ultimately supported by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY). The Washington Post explained that Walker hasn't been able to take on some of the discipline that typical candidates have. During a donor retreat for GOP candidates, Walker was asked about fiscal policy and the budget and he rambled about Black Lives Matter and the police, those attending the event revealed.
"The surprised reaction to Walker’s response was familiar to Republicans, who have been tracking his struggling bid in one of the most competitive Senate contests in the nation. Since easily winning his primary, his polling edge against Sen. Raphael G. Warnock (D) has become a deficit amid erratic campaigning, verbal flubs and disclosures about three children he had not previously spoken about publicly," the Post explained.
Not long before the primary election, Walker was polling well up against Warnock, nearly dead even with a margin of error of 3-4 percent. Now, Walker is down by ten points , and Warnock hasn't gone on a full attack against his GOP opponent yet.
Midterm elections generally have greater support among the party opposite the president's , as FiveThirtyEight explained. That along with gerrymandering that heavily favors Republicans should be handing the GOP huge wins. Commentators have spent the past several months assuming that the Democrats would lose power in the House and Senate and that President Biden would spend the last two years of his presidency with gridlock similar to that former President Barack Obama had.
"The result has been a rescue mission, helmed in part by the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which has led to several veteran staff hires by Walker’s campaign, including Brett O’Donnell, the party’s most celebrated debate prep strategist," said the Post . "It is just one of the ways GOP leaders have found themselves dealing with cleanup efforts as they round the summer bend on what should be a banner Republican election season."
Meanwhile, in Pennsylvania, Mehmet Oz has been ridiculed for turning against Trump after his Republican primary. Lt. Gov. John Fetterman ridiculed Oz, using a video from Stephen Colbert, for shifting all of his campaign graphics from being bright red and featuring his support from Trump. Now they're suddenly blue and make no mention of Trump.
Typically, campaigns of carpetbaggers who move into a state or district to run for office aren't all that compelling. Fetterman, however, has managed to strick a cord as Oz continues to conduct campaign activity from his New Jersey home. There have been so many examples of Oz living in one place while campaigning in another that it's become a joke with Oz turning into a point of non-stop ridicule.
In Nevada, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) was among the top most endangered Democrats, but after the Supreme Court's decision to eliminate Roe v. Wade , things have changed. With far-right opponent Attorney General Adam Laxalt being caught on tape saying he would work to make abortion illegal in Nevada, a state in which pro-choice voters significantly outnumber anti-choice ones.
Simon Rosenberg's New Democratic Network revealed that looking at nine polls since the Court overturned Roe shows that Democrats are leading by 1.7 percent in a Generic ballot for Congressional candidates. It's an increase of 3-5 percent from before the ruling.
Behind the scenes, Republicans are growing increasingly nervous, a GOP strategist revealed to the Post . "There are massive problems on the candidate front.” It was compared to the 2010 and 2012 seasons when Republicans had major leads, but still failed to win the Senate back due to people like Todd Akin in Missouri, Richard Mourdock in Indiana and Sharron Angle in Nevada.
Then there are problems where Republicans that are drawing the ire of Donald Trump could lose simply by MAGA world refusing to support them in the general election. In the case of Arizona, for example, Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ), who switched parties from a Republican, could go up against businessman Blake Masters, who has ties to neo-Nazis or the attorney general that Trump hates.
In Ohio, moderate Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) will go up against JD Vance, who has lagged behind in recent polls. Meanwhile, the abortion debate has come up in that state as well, after a 10-year-old girl was raped and ended up pregnant. The child was then forced to travel to another state to get an abortion . It has forced Republicans to answer whether they put children first over a rape fetus. One Republican went so far as to call a rape baby an "opportunity" for the 10-year-old.
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) is also having trouble in Wisconsin. After a bizarre series of statements around Jan. 6, his involvement has prompted questions.
After years in office, Johnson is "roughly even with three of his four potential Democratic rivals" the Post said, citing a Marquette University poll from June before news broke of his office trying to hand off fake electors to Vice President Mike Pence. "Johnson was viewed favorably by 37 percent of the state’s registered voters in that poll and unfavorably by 46 percent."
The Senate races don't even start to cover the congressional members who might not make it through November either.
Read more at the Washington Post.
They have risked taking back the Senate with some of these choices.
Democrats have put the US at risk; so it is hold your nose time.
Does anyone really want to put Democrats back in charge of the Senate?
And what do you think is going to happen if the repubs gain control?
Absolutely nothing.
Absolutely nothing good, to be more exact.
That's insane.
The turn toward the Democrats has a simple explanation. The MAGAs couldnt stop MAGAing.
No, democrats haven't put anyone at risk. Republicans on the other hand have attacked Choice, voter rights, climate and the economy.
Just on the GOP assault on Choice alone, America nor Americans need more unwanted children, more parents at the mercy of the courts, and especially a policy that places a zygote on a higher level than an actual living, working and existing person.
This too. Have the 'love letters' from Kim Jung Un sent to Trump ever been shown? Did they ever really exist? This is what you want governing the US? Really? Why?
Walker would lose to incumbency. Greitens is a quitter. Oz will be up against a guy who is certifiably googlable under - fetterman racist shotgun - which ain’t gonna play well in the two endcaps.
"Racist shotgun." Yeah. Sure. The, "I'm like a really smart guy," cult takes another swing. Strike five.
There is the incident where Fetterman's wife was the subject of a verbal racist attack.
Better question would be-------Why are Greitens, Walker and Oz considered legitimate candidates? Oh. The MAGA thing. My bad.
There are only two legitimate Democrats; and the party wants both of them out.
What do the Democrats have to run on? Trump and abortion.
And pray everyone forgets about high gas prices; inflation; looming recession; stock market crashing; US citizens still trapped in Afghanistan; rising crime rates; millions of illegals flooding across our wide open southern border; and Biden/Harris making the US a laughing stock sock puppet of the world.
I am sure the human fuck up machine has another couple of election altering gaffs in him to get Republicans and independents on board with voting all Democrats out of office.
And what are republicans running on?
Hard-core fascism.
I wouldn't call it book definition of fascism but it's damn close, yep..
Everything you said is covered daily on Russian State TV.
Dems and Repubs hate OZ alike, so he's fucked.
Consider what Oz is running against - then tell me Fetterman will draw Black votes.
Oprah and Donald love OZ alike, so he's weird.