McConnell tries to salvage Senate majority with court vote
WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell spent a year prepping his Republican colleagues for this moment, telling them the confirmation a Supreme Court justice is the “most important” vote they will take as senators, the chance to make “seismic change” that will stay with the nation for generations to come.
Now, three weeks before Election Day, the GOP leader needs this moment more than ever.
Confirmation hearings are set to begin Monday for President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee giving Republicans one last chance to salvage their Senate majority by wresting attention away from the White House and its COVID-19 response and onto the GOP’s longtime goal of fashioning a conservative court.
The arrival of conservative Judge Amy Coney Barrett offers a long-shot opportunity to bring wayward Republican voters back in the fold. As Trump’s standing drops in internal polls, McConnell hopes to remind voters why they stuck with Trump in 2016: the promise of another conservative justice ruling on abortion access and other big issues. Democrats are within range of seizing Senate control Nov. 3.
“It’s going to do what it’s going to do — energize the base,” said Doug Deason, a wealthy Dallas donor who is the Northern Texas fundraising chairman for Trump and helps congressional Republicans.
That’s the optimistic view. It’s coming mostly from those Republicans and backers still pouring millions of dollars into campaign efforts to salvage McConnell’s slim 53-47 GOP majority.
The more dour assessment is McConnell is simply trying to grab whatever he can before he and his majority are out the door.
“To me, it just indicates a clear lack of confidence in Donald Trump and these Senate races,” said Stuart Stevens, a veteran Republican strategist who helmed Mitt Romney’s 2012 campaign and now is among those trying to defeat Trump.
Democrats need to gain at least three seats to win the Senate majority if presidential nominee Joe Biden is elected, or four if Trump wins a second term, because the party’s vice president can vote as a tie-breaker in the Senate.
What started as an election cycle with just a handful of senators at risk has ballooned into an expanding Senate map from Alaska to inter-mountain West to the Deep South as Republicans face tough challenges, while Democrats see few.
Alarms are flashing red throughout Republican Senate campaigns after Trump’s overbearing debate performance and
COVID diagnosis sent the party’s poll numbers cratering, particularly among the suburban white women and moms who helped elect him in 2016.
One Republican advising in Senate and House races called it the worst presidential dive in U.S. history — one that is bringing the entire GOP ticket down with it. It’s something no amount of money can fix, the person said. The strategist, like others interviewed for this story, were granted anonymity to frankly assess the situation.
In group meetings and one on one, McConnell started raising the prospect of a Supreme Court vacancy last year, according to a person close to the leader and familiar with the private conversations.
He told them legislating can bring incremental changes but as senators they have few opportunities to make the more substantial, lasting shift that comes with a lifetime appointment to the court.