President Joe Biden has homed his political attacks on four Republican lawmakers before November’s midterm elections, arguably with mixed effect.
Biden’s bromides against House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Rick Scott (R-FL), and Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Ron Johnson (R-WI) in his campaign stump speech amplify the differences between the Democrats’ and GOP’s agendas. But they, particularly in the case of Graham’s 15-week federal abortion ban, also underscore conservative arguments five weeks before the midterm elections.
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The risks for Biden and Democrats with the president’s strategy may become more apparent if he ups attacks on Republicans with better national profiles than the likes of Scott, Graham, and Johnson, such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, or more popular ideas within the GOP, according to political commentator Jeremy Mayer.
“For example, it would probably be a mistake for Biden to go after the GOP for their transgender stances because the public is closer to the GOP on several points of that debate,” Mayer told the Washington Examiner.
“The aspects of the GOP plans that he is talking about poll badly,” the George Mason University professor said of Scott’s 12-point pitch. “That’s why the Senate GOP has not embraced Scott’s plan. They would love for it to go away, almost as much as Democrats regret having anyone with a ‘D’ after their name say, ‘Defund the police.'”
But the political ramifications of Graham’s 15-week abortion position are more complex. Republican candidates have softened their abortion stances, at least on their websites, after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade amid a surge in Democratic support. But while Graham’s Protecting Pain-Capable Unborn Children from Late-Term Abortions Act arms Democrats with more ammunition, it simultaneously provides Republicans with something to rally around.
“Unlike, say, ‘defund the police,’ which was never a policy that Democrats at the national level endorsed or put into legislation, Graham’s bill is real and reflects the opinion of many Republicans about abortion,” Mayer added.
At the same time, GOP operatives, such as Republican National Committee spokeswoman Nicole Morales, complain about Biden’s political rhetoric despite his promises to be a unifying figure after former President Donald Trump.
“Instead of fixing the crises he created, Biden targets and labels half of Americans as semifascists and extremists,” she said. “Biden is the divider-in-chief, and his attempts to smear Republicans does nothing to help families who are struggling to afford groceries and gas.”
Biden showcased his four-point attack last week during a Democratic National Committee event at the National Education Association Headquarters in Washington, D.C. Hours after McCarthy launched House Republicans’ “Commitment to America,” akin to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s 1994 “Contract with America” before the GOP reclaimed 54 seats in the chamber, Biden criticized both the substance of McCarthy’s framework and the fact it is “a thin series of policy goals, with little or no detail.”
Biden then told the audience that 166 House Republicans “have signed on to a bill that would ban abortion nationwide,” alluding to the Life at Conception Act that Rep. Alex Mooney (R-WV) introduced last year.
“And the senior senator from South Carolina, Lindsey Graham, has proposed a national ban on abortion with criminal penalties put on doctors and put them in jail if they, in fact, violate the ban,” he said.
Biden also scrutinized Scott, “the man in charge of electing Republicans in the U.S. Senate,” for what the NRSC insists is his personal “Rescue America” platform, a direct response to Biden’s “American Rescue” plan. Biden has especially latched on to Scott’s belief that all federal laws, including those creating Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, should be “sunsetted” every five years.
“Then there’s Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin,” Biden began before an audience member interrupted him to boo Johnson. “He thinks waiting five years is too long. He wants to put Social Security on the chopping block every single year. If Congress doesn’t vote to keep it, it goes away. An affirmative requirement to vote to keep it.”
Scott is a potential 2024 Republican presidential candidate. The Cook Political Report considers Johnson’s Senate reelection race against Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes (D-WI) to be a toss-up contest, though RealClearPolitics finds the two-term incumbent has an average 2.3 percentage point lead.
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Biden’s tactic is unfolding against an ever-changing political backdrop. FiveThirtyEight predicts Democrats have a 68% chance of holding on to their Senate majority, a task complicated by the chamber’s evenly divided composition, and Republicans have the same chance of recapturing the House, a feat that only requires a net gain of six seats.
