The National Republican Senatorial Committee is bullish about its 2014 prospects, and to spread some of that excitement, it created a highlights reel to show why they feel they won August.
NRSC Chairman, Sen. Jerry Moran, debuted the video in a meeting with Republican Senators this week. According to a source familiar with the meeting, Moran “boasted with confidence that Republicans are in a good position to win the Senate Majority in 2014 as they enter the fall.” The source added that “the video sparked a great deal of enthusiasm among the Senators after they watched it and spurred numerous positive questions about recruiting efforts.”
Provided first to The Daily Caller, the video focuses on some of the more creative things the NRSC has done to attack vulnerable democrats up for re-election; for instance, the “Duck Hunter” inspired attack ad on Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu, which aired during the popular reality show Duck Dynasty.
The NRSC fell short in fundraising goals this past quarter, trailing its Democratic counterpart by almost $5 million. The finance director left the committee last month.
But the source said that did not mean the NRSC was in bad shape for 2014.
“There is some donor fatigue cutting across not only party committees, but Super PACs and campaigns,” the source said. “But while the NRSC has been outraised this year by the DSCC by approximately $10 million (which is status quo historically), it has completely paid off its debt (now debt free) – whereas the DSCC still has over $10 million in debt.”
The Senate map for 2014 looks good for Republicans. A number of Democratic Senators, like Landrieu, Alaska Sen. Mark Begich, and Arkansas Sen. Mark Pryor, are up for re-election in red states, giving the NRSC a good chance to flip their seats. An open seat in West Virginia, where Democratic Sen. Jay Rockefeller is retiring, also looks good for a turn to the right. The committee hopes to put other seats, like the open one in Iowa and Colorado Sen. Mark Udall’s seat, into play as well.
“The money starts coming when donors believe there’s a serious chance to win,” the source said.
NRSC August Highlights from NRSC on Vimeo.