Senate Democratic leaders are quietly cheering Republican senators such as Texas’ Ted Cruz, Kentucky’s Rand Paul and Florida’s Marco Rubio to run for president in 2016. Their reason: Pulling just three Republicans out of the Senate to campaign essentially eliminates the new GOP majority in the chamber.
“Even with Republicans gaining so many seats, it’s not going to be such a big majority all of the time,” a key insider said. “Let’s say five of them run for president. They’ll be gone during critical votes.”
The Senate GOP won a 53-seat majority in this month’s election, with Louisiana still up for grabs. The Republican National Committee has suggested that up to seven might run for president. The others: Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, Rob Portman of Ohio, Tim Scott of South Carolina and John Thune of South Dakota.
And even if they are in the chamber, another source explained, the candidates will be wary of weighing in on controversial issues and votes out of concern it would hurt their primary campaigns.
“Some of them will be worried about taking tough votes because of tight contests in 2016. So we’re hoping that it will be a lot closer to even than not,” said the Democratic source.
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected].
