GOP campaigns see ads linking Democrats to questions about Biden’s mental fitness

Two new ads on Arizona’s airwaves offer a preview of how Republicans plan to tie Democrats to President Joe Biden after last month’s disastrous debate performance.

“Arizonans witnessed Joe Biden incoherently trying to defend his failed policies that have let in millions of illegal immigrants, forced Arizonans to pay higher food and gas prices, and made housing unaffordable,” a narrator said in a new TV advert from the campaign arm of Senate Republicans and Republican Kari Lake, as footage of the debate plays on the screen. Lake and the National Republican Senatorial Committee launched a similar place On thursday.

The ads appear to be some of the first on TV to directly reference the debate, where Biden at times struggled to conclude his thoughts and provide coherent responses. After this brief reference, the ad continues to emphasize the position of the Democratic Representative. Ruben GallegoSupport for Biden’s policies.

Republicans had already launched attacks on Democrats in the House and Senate elections that linked them to Biden before the debate, focusing mainly on issues such as immigration and inflation. And that’s still the plan.

“In most of these Senate battleground states, Joe Biden is very unpopular. Senate Democratic incumbents voted with Joe Biden 95% of the time,” NRSC Chairman Steve Daines, R-Mont., told NBC News when asked this week how the debate will affect the GOP’s strategy to bind Democrats to president.

“So it’s difficult for these Democrats to defend that record with Joe Biden. And they’re going to have to sink or swim with Biden’s record,” Daines later added, noting that Senate races have mirrored presidential voting in all but one state in the last two presidential election cycles.

In Arizona, Gallego’s campaign ignored Lake and NRSC’s announcements. “Kari Lake is a power-hungry opportunist who will do or say anything to gain power, including banning abortion without exceptions for rape or incest,” Gallego spokeswoman Hannah Goss said in a statement. “It’s too extreme for Arizona, which is why Arizonans are going to reject it once again.”

Some GOP strategists said Biden’s debate performance made it more likely that Republicans would target Democrats specifically on the president’s mental acuity, arguing that the debate reinforced voters’ long-standing concerns about Biden’s age.

After the debate, GOP operatives combed White House visitor logs to see which vulnerable House and Senate Democrats had met directly with the president. These meetings fueled a new round of digital ads from House Republicans’ campaign arm, the National Republican Congressional Committee. The ads, targeting 10 Democrats, declare that Biden “lacks mental fitness for office” and accuse Democrats of covering up “the scandal of a century.”

This week, a super PAC supporting Montana Republican Tim Sheehy – More Jobs, Less Government – ​​was launched a 15-second TV ad featuring footage of Democratic Sen. Jon Tester saying Biden is “absolutely, 100% with this.”

But ads focused primarily on Biden’s fitness for office have yet to air on TV. Since the debate, Republicans have continued to link Democrats to Biden on policy.

Wisconsin Republican Eric Hovde launched a new TV advert Friday featuring footage of Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin saying Biden’s presidency was “one of the most successful administrations in generations.”

Ohio Republican Bernie Moreno released a new digital ad featuring footage of Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown saying Biden’s politics are “not much different than mine.”

The NRSC and Sheehy also released a new TV advert criticizing Biden and Tester on inflation and immigration.

Pennsylvania Republican David McCormick launched an attack on Democratic Sen. Bob Casey, featuring footage from the debate and footage of Casey praising Biden, ending with on-screen text asking, “When will Casey finally tell the truth?” But for now, the announcement is streaming online, backed by a five-figure digital purchase.

“These digital ads are a way to test messages that can be used in broadcasts later,” said a GOP strategist, who is not connected to the McCormick campaign and spoke broadly about online messaging. The strategist noted that Republicans are testing potential messages in polls and focus groups, and those results will determine the content of the ads that air.

“The debate among Republican operatives is to what extent you can gain an advantage from this,” the strategist said, noting some concerns about alienating voters with too harsh a message about Biden’s personal capabilities.

Another GOP strategist also expected more messaging focused on Biden’s mental acuity “now that Americans have seen it” in the debate. The strategist noted that tone will be key, so be careful not to offend older voters, who are a key part of the Republican coalition.

But, the strategist added, the debate “opened the door for Republicans to use it.”

Democrats, however, have noted since the Biden debate that their least-voted candidates was doing better than the top of the list, as well-known incumbents leveraged their bipartisan brands.

“Senate races are battles between candidates and candidates, and the problem for Republicans is that they have a slate of recruits with disqualifying vulnerabilities,” Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee communications director David Bergstein said in a statement. communicated. “GOP Senate candidates have been caught lying about their biographies, embroiled in scandals over their finances, and their toxic agenda on issues like reproductive freedom is a turnoff for voters.”

This article was originally published in NBCNews. with