Some of these are pricey: Houston, Philly and Chicago. Gotta spend a LOT to make a dent
Sometimes outside group ad buys are designed to make members feel happy and get the publicity that they bought the ad, not make a difference in the electorate.
We got an ad-buying source to lay out where these ads are running, for how long and for how much — CRITICAL info
So far, this is what’s up:
→ One week of broadcast in Norfolk, Va., for $120,000 -- that’s for Luria.
→ One week of broadcast in LaCrosse, Wis., for $105,000 -- that’s for Kind.
→ One week of cable in Houston for $299,000 -- that’s for Fletcher.
→ $41,000 total on cable in Luria's district and Kind's district.
At this point, this is a buy to help members feel good. There’s nothing wrong with that. But this is HARDLY a sales job.
This is burning in less than one full message in one week in the March of an off year
We’ll be watching to see if they step it up at all.
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Buttigieg sure hopes Congress keeps its money spigot on full blast to start rebuilding.
Here are our 9 questions about infrastructure.
1) The price tag. Congress is getting ready to approve nearly $2 trillion in Covid-related spending this week, and it’s being done on a party line vote. Will Washington have the stomach for another $1 trillion-plus bill?
Whatever Dems want has to pass the @Sen_JoeManchin test: Moderate Dems will have to be able to stomach it.
Everyone has written -- us too! -- that Schumer could face a primary challenge from his left from @aoc. Yet that seems less likely. and a fight from the left seems ill advised at the moment.
Here’s why:
→ Schumer as majority leader is a lot harder to challenge than Schumer as minority leader. Yes, Senate majority leaders have lost re-election, but it’s been a good 80 years since this happened. Ossoff and Warnock’s victories made a Schumer challenge much tougher
→ The American Rescue Plan could’ve been called the “Chuck Schumer Rescue Plan.” McConnell (R-Ky.) called it a “liberal wish list.” Sanders (I-Vt.) said it was “the most significant piece of legislation to benefit working families in the modern history of this country.”
>@PunchbowlNews AM: The Congress Biden wants vs. the one he has
In the Congress Biden wants -- and the Congress he campaigned on during the presidential race -- Rs and Ds work together to notch big legislative priorities. They meet constantly, and hash out big deals.
@PunchbowlNews In the Congress Biden actually has, Republicans will stand pat against the $1.9-trillion package after a few perfunctory meetings and conversations.
@PunchbowlNews In the Congress Joe Biden wants, you nominate a candidate for a post and the Senate considers them on the merits. You talk to senators, and you expect a logical result.
“Get rid of them all.” Trump on a whole bunch of House and Senate Rs
We’ve been waiting for this moment because it gives us the opportunity to write about the challenges of this approach for Trump and for D.C. Republicans.
@PunchbowlNews For Trump: The principal question we have here is whether Trump is going to have the infrastructure and, more importantly, the sustained interest in launching and facilitating primary challenges against these Republicans.
@PunchbowlNews That would include endorsing & most likely clearing the field for candidates in various congressional districts across the country. Saying you want to get rid of Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) is one thing. But ensuring that Cheney or any candidate faces just 1 challenger is critical
In @PunchbowlNews AM this morning: We have some new reporting on Republicans’ position on earmarks. This is huge news for DC.
— @LeaderMcConnell said he’ll defer to @SenShelby, which means earmarking will almost certainly be starting again for Senate Rs.
But now for House Rs...
@PunchbowlNews@LeaderMcConnell@SenShelby 1) This House Republican minority isn’t like the Tea Party fueled group of a decade ago. Instead, they’re inspired by former President Donald Trump, who had no problem spending vast piles of federal money. Bringing back earmarks doesn’t seem like a huge ideological hurdle now.
@PunchbowlNews@LeaderMcConnell@SenShelby 2) Democrats are going to request earmarks. If Republicans don’t, they’ll be at a substantive and political disadvantage, they say.
The Republican Party has had some low points in the last two decades: The Mark Foley scandal, the Jack Abramoff mess, the nightmare in Iraq, losing their House majority in 2006, followed by the historic beatdown of 2008.
But we’re going to make the case this morning that the Republican Party is more adrift than it has been at nearly any point since Watergate.
Here’s why:
1) There’s plenty that Republicans could be hitting Democrats about these days. Democrats have a razor-thin House majority following their disastrous showing in November, and there’s a good chance they’ll be in the minority by next Congress;