10 TIME November 2/November 9, 2020
L
ESS THAN TWO WEEKS FROM ELECTION DAY,
Senate Republicans are caught in a political vise.
More and more members of their party are realiz-
ing that President Donald Trump is hurting their
chances for re-election—and very possibly for control of the
chamber. “We are staring down the barrel of a blue tsunami,”
Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse said on a recent call with constit-
uents, published by the Washington Examiner.
GOP Senators are in a catch-22: standing by the Presi-
dent could hurt them, but straying too far risks losing sup-
port from his stalwart base. As Democrats’ chances of nettingenough seats to wrest outright control of the Senate rise, Re-
publican Senate candidates are adopting a variety of strate-
gies to save their political skins. Some are old standbys for
politicians trying to distance themselves from an unpopular
top-of-the-ticket candidate. Others are less elegant.
The situation may hold a longer-term lesson. Says Sasse: “It
has always been imprudent for our party to try to tie itself to a
Trumpian brand.” Then again, it’s easy for Sasse to go out on
that limb: he’s widely favored to win. Elsewhere, the breadth
of GOP tactics—and the number of states where they’re being
tried—shows just how broad the Senate battleground is. TheBrief Opener
POLITICS
Battle for the Senate
By Lissandra Villa
TAC T IC # 5 :
The All-In
ApproachEven some Republicans
in deep red states fi nd
themselves in
uncomfortably
close races. For
them, the refl ex
more often than
not is “damn the
torpedoes, full speed
ahead.” Lindsey Graham
of South Carolina, for one,
has fully embraced Trump,
including on his handling
of public health. But
even in South Carolina,
where it should be safe
to go all in, Graham has
found himself in a close
re-election race
against Democratic
challenger Jaime
Harrison.
In Georgia, where
two other close Senate
races are playing out,
both GOP incumbents
have cast themselves
as staunch Trump allies.
Senator David Perdue
appeared at a Trump rally
in Georgia on Oct. 16.
Senator Kelly Loeffl er,
who was appointed to
her seat and is fi ghting
in a special election
to retain it, has an ad
touting her as “100%
Trump.” And Trump has
called Representative
Doug Collins, the other
top Republican in the
special election, an
“unbelievable friend
of mine.”TAC T IC # 1 :
The Artful
DodgeAt a debate on Oct. 6,
Arizona’s Republican
Senator Martha McSally
was asked a simple
question: Was she
proud of her support for
President Donald Trump?
Instead of answering, she
launched into a straight-
to-camera monologue
about how she’s proud
of her work “fi ghting
for Arizonans,” before
pivoting to an attack
on her Democratic
challenger, Mark Kelly,
whom she is trailing. In
Iowa, Senator Joni Ernst
recently told reporters
that she is “running
on my own issues,”
according to the Des
Moines Register. Ernst,
who is also trailing
her opponent Theresa
Greenfi eld, reportedly
added that she thought
the President would carry
the state. Both Senators
have consistently stood
with the President on
most issues.
TAC T IC # 2 :
The Firewall
ArgumentIn North
Carolina,
Senator
Thom Tillis,
locked
in a tight
re-election
campaign against
Democratic challenger
Cal Cunningham,
seemed to
suggest that
the strongest
argument
for keeping
a Senate
Republican
majority was
that it would
be a conservative
insurance policy in
the event that Trump
loses. “The best check
on a Biden presidency
is for Republicans to
have a majority in the
Senate,” Tillis, who is
trailing Cunningham, told
Politico.TACTIC #4:
The Feel-Good
StoryIn Colorado, Senator
Cory Gardner ducked
when asked, during an
Oct. 9 debate against his
Democratic challenger,
John Hickenlooper,
whether he was proud of
the President’s response
to COVID-19. “We have
to work each and every
day to make sure that
we are proud of our
response,” said Gardner,
who has lagged behind
Hickenlooper by more
than 10 points in several
of the most recent
polls. “This isn’t a
question of pride,
this is a question
of getting through
this together. I
believe we must
get through this
by staying together,
staying united.”The incumbent
McSally, far
left, trails
Kelly in her
Arizona raceGardner, left, took
an upbeat tone in
a debate against
HickenlooperTAC T IC # 3 :
Single-Issue
DistancingThe most popular—and
traditional—approach
to emerge is to broadly
side with the President,
and then pick individual
issues on which to
disagree. In Maine,
Republican Susan
Collins, trailing in her
re-election bid against
Democratic challenger
Sara Gideon, has
repeatedly used that
tactic. Recently, she said
she favored the Senate
waiting until after the
election to vote on a
Supreme Court Justice.
Others have
distanced themselves
from the Administration’s
corona virus response and
attacks on Obamacare.
Senator John Cornyn of
Texas, who is favored to
hold his seat, told the
Houston Chronicle that
Trump had "let his guard
down" on COVID-19. Even
Senate majority leader
Mitch McConnell, who is
leading comfortably in his
own race, made a point of
saying in October that he
hadn’t been to the White
House since August,
noting its “approach” to
coronavirus has been
“different” (read: less
responsible) than
the Senate’s.