During Wednesday’s broadcast of FBN’s “Mornings with Maria,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) discussed his strategy for Senate Republicans in the upcoming midterm elections.
Thune acknowledged that Republicans would have to play defense in some places but said his party was playing offense in others.
However, one key to his strategy, he said, was to contrast Republican candidates with Democrat Senate nominees Graham Platner in Maine and James Talarico in Texas.
“Leader, let me end on the midterm elections, and ask you, how you’re feeling?” host Maria Bartiromo said. “Because the other day I saw what Chuck Schumer was saying over and over again, we’re going to take down Susan Collins, and we will take back the Senate.”
Thune replied, “Well, I mean, I think that any election starts with quality candidates, and I think in all the competitive races around the country, we’ve got really high quality candidates. And then you’ve got to have a record of accomplishment to run on. You’ve got to have resources to get that message, that story out to the American people in their states, and our job is to ensure that we’ve got those resources. Now, this is a tough political environment. It’s a midterm election. The president is not on the ballot, which means turnout is going to be an issue, and we’ve got to really be working the ground game. But I think we’ve got strong candidates in the right places. The Dems are, yeah, they’re giddy and bullish and all that, mainly because they think that there is going to be so much intensity on the Democrat side. What we’ve got to do is build intensity on our side and ensure a new part, part of that is resources and raising money.”
“But whether it’s Maine or North Carolina or Ohio or Iowa or Alaska, we’ve got some pickup opportunities in Michigan and New Hampshire,” he continued. “We’re playing offense a few places. We’re obviously playing defense in some of these places. But we’ve got quality candidates, and I think a drawing contrast with your opponents. Elections are fundamentally about differences, and you’ve got to give people a choice. And the Democrats in all these races, whether it’s Graham Platner in Maine or Talarico in Texas, these are far-left liberals. This is a party that is completely out of step with the American people. But we’re going to have to point that out, because they’re not going to do it. So, we have to define these candidates, create that contrast, and give the American people a choice, because elections fundamentally are about differences.”
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