The National Republican Senatorial Committee has decided to save money by copying fundraising communications from The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. The GOP group did this at least three times last week, according to Business Insider. Republicans used not only complete phrasing but also style and font color on key words, going beyond Sen. Rand Paul’s (R-KY) plagiarizing techniques.
DCCC email on June 27:
“This week has been absolutely off the charts!
Wednesday: President Obama emailed you a call to action to fight Republican attacks.
Moments later: Boehner announced he’s suing President Obama.
Then: something truly incredible happened. Over 43,384 people donated to defeat Boehner’s Tea Party Republicans.
Now we’re within striking distance.”
NRSC email after DCCC email:
“This has been a record-setting week!
Yesterday: Senator Mitch McConnell emailed you a call to action to stand up to President Obama’s abuse of power.
Moments later: The Supreme Court UNANIMOUSLY reminded President Obama that he isn’t a king and overturned his decisions.
Then: Something incredible happened. Thousands of you donated to defeat the Democrats’ failed agenda – giving conservatives the power to stay on offense. Let’s keep it going!
Now we’re within striking distance.”
The rest of the NRSC email also closely matches its DCCC counterpart and both use a green highlight to draw attention to the fact the contribution will be “triple-matched.” The Democratic message was signed “Democratic Headquarters” and the GOP one was signed “Republican Headquarters.”
[Interesting that the NRSC didn’t want to be specific about those “thousands”!]
DCCC email sent the following Sunday:
“Sadly, we still haven’t heard from you. The Midyear Fundraising Deadline is tomorrow. If we don’t hit our $2 million grassroots goal by tomorrow at midnight, our fight to win a Democratic House in November will be cut off at the knees. Friends–we simply can’t win if we’re getting outspent 3-to-1 by Republican outside groups. Will you step up before it’s too late?”
NRSC email a day later:
“Unfortunately, we still haven’t heard from you. Our midyear fundraising deadline is at midnight tonight. If we don’t hit our fundraising goals, our ability to win a Senate Republican Majority will be severely jeopardized. We simply can’t win, if we’re getting outspent 5-to-1 by Democratic organizations. Can we count on you to step up, before it’s too late?”
Both messages used the same, light-blue highlight text for the “triple-match” language this time.
NRSC spokesman Brad Dayspring:
“The copy and subject matter of the emails is entirely different, but one could certainly make the case that they parody the hyperbolic and sensationalistic language used by the left; or as the kids these days are calling it, ‘trolling.'”
DCCC spokesman Josh Schwerin:
“They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery so we’ll just take this as a compliment.”
The article shows three similar emails from the two groups.
Desperation on the part of the GOP? Or incompetence? Or just poorly-paid workers? It’s all very curious. It does, however, follow the pattern of GOP politicians twisting Dems words in efforts to look compassionate, understanding, and populist. Their actions speak so loudly ….
A prime example of doubletalk comes from Kentucky’s senator, Rand Paul, who said about the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights of 1964:
“It is simply unimaginable to think what modern America would be like if not for the brave men and women who stood up for the rights of all Americans. This legislation changed the future of our nation by enforcing the belief that all men and women are created equal. We must continue to build an America that our children-of every race, creed and color-deserve.”
He continued by claiming that “you’ll find nobody in Congress doing more for minority rights than me right now–Republican or Democrat.”
Reality, however, belies his words. He conceded in his 2010 campaign that he disagrees with parts of the Civil Rights Act because businesses should have the right to ban anyone who they want. He has also criticized the Voting Rights Act and the Fair Housing Act. He refused to sign on as a co-sponsor to protect minority voting rights. He opposes marriage equality. When he published a book, he co-wrote it with a neo-Confederate who celebrates the birthday of Abraham Lincoln’s assassin; then Paul hired him for his Senate staff.
The NRSC also suffers from a wide schism. Backed by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), the Senate Conservatives Fund is asking conservatives to not donate to the NRSC because of Mississippi’s runoff for U.S. Senate. The NRSC supported Sen. Thad Cochran while the SCF and other outside groups backed the neo-Confederate challenger, state Sen. Chris McDaniel. The losing candidate and his supporters are furious that Cochran won, especially after he asked for support from black (aka Democratic) voters.
Cruz still serves as vice-chairman for the NRSC grass-roots outreach and previously pledged not to work to oust any GOP senatorial incumbent. Recently, he appeared on a SCF television ad to support T.W. Shannon as candidate for Sen. Tom Coburn’s senate seat from Oklahoma. Shannon lost. Last October, the SCF endorsed Matt Bevin in his race against Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. Bevin lost. Cruz has not yet responded to questions about whether he will disavow the SCF’s effort to defund the NRSC.
SCF president Ken Cuccinelli lost his bid for Virginia governor. In a message to SCF, he wrote:
“Majority-Leader-Wannabe Mitch McConnell, NRSC Chairman Jerry Moran, and the others who supported Thad Cochran’s disgraceful attacks on Chris McDaniel are part of the problem. These politicians don’t believe in the principles of freedom that make America great. Their ideology is power and they will do anything to keep it.”
In mid-June, Reince Priebus, chair of the Republican National Committee, said on CBS’s Face the Nation that the Republican Party is not at all divided. A new study shows strong differences within the GOP in social issues, Wall Street and business, immigrant reform, the role of government, etc. Priebus might want to reconsider his statement.
Nel's New Day 