Cotton is
spending five figures to air the new ad, which began running on Ohio TV
stations this week. It will also appear as a digital spot nationally. He
is expected to invest six figures on the upcoming coronavirus-focused
spot.
The 42-year-old Arkansas
senator is a sure bet to win reelection, allowing him to use his war
chest to assist the president and Republicans running down-ballot. He
has more than $4.5 million in his campaign account, according to his
most recent filing with the Federal Election Commission.
“I
can focus on helping the president win reelection and helping my
colleagues in difficult states win reelection as well,” said Cotton, who
for a time was mentioned as a potential Trump pick to be CIA director.
“Let’s just say that I have more time on my hands.”
Scott
drew notice in January when he began airing an anti-Biden spot in Iowa,
home of the first-in-the-nation caucuses. In response, the former vice
president
joked that Scott was “so interested, as a senator from Florida, whether or not I should win an Iowa caucus.”
“Isn't that fascinating?” Biden asked. “Pretty amazing."
Scott,
a multimillionaire former hospital executive, spent five figures on
both of his spots. His second commercial, a Spanish language spot, is
running in his home state of Florida. Scott said he was open to taking
other steps to engage in the 2020 presidential contest.
He
is also working to establish goodwill with his Senate colleagues. Last
week, he invited a half-dozen Republican candidates up for election in
2020, including Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, onto his private plane
to hopscotch across Florida for a series of fundraisers. The events
netted about $1.7 million, which will be distributed to each of the
candidates running in November.
Some
of those on the jaunt speculated that Scott might be interested in
serving as a future National Republican Senatorial Committee chair, a
perch that would give the Florida senator entrée to a wide swath of
prominent GOP donors.
By taking the
unexpected step of running pro-Trump ads, Cotton and Scott are making a
clear play for the president’s supporters at a time when fealty to the
commander-in-chief defines the party. Regardless of the outcome of the
2020 election, many in the party are convinced that Trump will play an
outsize role in determining the future of the party — including who sits
atop the 2024 ticket.
“Primary
voters pay attention to these things,” said Jim McLaughlin, a veteran
Republican pollster who is working on Trump’s reelection effort.
McLaughlin,
who worked on a pro-Scott super PAC during the 2018 midterms, said the
Florida Republican’s move helped him “stand out, which is not always
easy to do when you’re a senator.”
Cotton
and Scott are also filling a vacuum. While Democratic primary
candidates clog the TV airwaves, the president has gotten relatively
little cover. Trump’s reelection campaign has focused much of its
advertising on digital outlets, while the main super PAC supporting the
president is husbanding its resources for later.
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