Welcome to the online version of From the policy deskevening bulletin that brings you the latest reporting and analysis from the campaign trail, the White House and Capitol Hill from the NBC News Politics team.
In today’s edition, political reporter Kathryn Doyle explains why some Republicans are unhappy with the cryptocurrency group’s campaign spending. Plus, senior political analyst Chuck Todd looks at Republicans begging Donald Trump to stay on message.
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Crypto group’s campaign spending angers Republicans
by Katherine Doyle
JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. – A leading pro-cryptocurrency political group is pouring millions into high-profile Senate races in Arizona and Michigan to support Democrats against Donald Trump-endorsed candidates, angering top Republicans who view the industry as an ally rather than the industry. competitor.
Fairshake PAC and its affiliated super PAC announced plans to spend $3 million to support Ruben Gallego in Arizona and Elissa Slotkin in Michigan, two contests that will play a big role in determining which party wins control of the closely divided Senate this fall.
The campaign comes as top Republicans seek to forge closer ties with members of the crypto industry amid a hostile regulatory environment.
Fairshake pointed to Slotkin and Gallego’s current A ratings from Stand With Crypto, a nonprofit that advocates for the crypto industry. Both Democrats have been skeptical of the industry in the past, but this year they crossed party lines to support a major cryptocurrency bill.
The group also plans to spend $12 million to unseat Ohio Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, chairman of the powerful Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, who is seen as a cryptocurrency skeptic by industry supporters.
Still, spending favoring Democrats in other critical races rubbed some in the GOP the wrong way. They warn that the group risks losing influence with Republicans after working to cultivate hard-won ties and cast doubt on the sustainability of Gallego and Slotkin’s crypto support.
Costs were a hot topic of conversation as investor Marc Andreessen and representatives from Coinbase and other cryptocurrency groups descended on Jackson Hole this week to attend a series of retreats hosted by the Republican Congressional Leadership Fund super PAC and House Speaker Mike Johnson. La.
Andreessen and his business partner Ben Horowitz supported Trump in the presidential race and criticized the Biden administration’s regulatory agenda. Andreessen and Horowitz are among Fairshake’s together most important donors.
“Republicans are WTF about what’s going on with Fairshake, and I think it’s a pretty bad sign for the industry, people are wondering why our major trade association is turning its arsenal on our friends,” said one industry leader. granted anonymity to speak freely. “A lot of people walk around the CLF conference wondering if this is a strategic chess move by the industry.”
Republicans are stuck with Trump’s obsessions
By Chuck Todd
Nearly a month after Vice President Kamala Harris served as the new Democratic standard-bearer, the question of who is the weaker presidential candidate for down-ballot candidates is being debated. As of this writing, Republicans in battleground states and districts are now begging their candidates to change course.
And yet Trump is not listening.
A good example of this gentle public nudge for Trump to change his approach comes from former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who has been conducting media tours urging Trump to run his campaign in a more careful and even docile manner. What they said recently on NPR:
“Who will protect the border? Who will develop the economy? Who will be left out of World War III? And more intangible … who will restore national pride in this country? I think Donald Trump has a strong case to make on all of these issues, and I think he and the Republican Party would be well served to focus on the contradictions of policy.”
Even so, in nearly every public forum Trump has attended since Harris’s ascension, he has failed to translate a message close to Ramaswamy’s advice.
It will not be difficult for a normal candidate. However, for Trump, it has been quite difficult. It’s clear from talking to people who know him well that he can’t handle losing to Joe Biden in 2020. In 2020, Biden’s only personal hope of overcoming defeat was to defeat him in 2024. Now Biden has denied him the opportunity.
He also doesn’t respect Harris as a competitor, and voters are picking up on that. Neglecting a candidate can turn voters against that campaign and toward the target. The best example of this? Hillary Clinton, who never saw Trump as a worthy opponent in 2016. The “deplorables” comment only reinforced this point.
Well, Trump falls into the same trap. The less respect Harris gets, the less the public will be afraid to give him a chance.
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