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Sen. Tom Cotton. | Mark Wilson/Getty Images
Arkansas Republican Tom Cotton, a freshman senator up for
reelection in November, launched a highly unusual new TV ad this week.
The content was standard, pro-Trump, anti-Democrat fare. What was very atypical was that it aired hundreds of miles from his home state, in Ohio.
As it turns out, the ad had nothing to do with Cotton’s current campaign, and everything to do with the one he’s eyeing four years from now — for the White House. He and Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) are running commercials aimed at raising their profiles in key electoral battlegrounds and — perhaps more important — ingratiating themselves with President Donald Trump and his supporters, who could prove critical in any future Republican presidential primary contest.
The content was standard, pro-Trump, anti-Democrat fare. What was very atypical was that it aired hundreds of miles from his home state, in Ohio.
As it turns out, the ad had nothing to do with Cotton’s current campaign, and everything to do with the one he’s eyeing four years from now — for the White House. He and Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) are running commercials aimed at raising their profiles in key electoral battlegrounds and — perhaps more important — ingratiating themselves with President Donald Trump and his supporters, who could prove critical in any future Republican presidential primary contest.
The twin offensives underscore how the 2024 Republican presidential primary is already underway
even as Trump is battling for a second term. Republicans with future
national aspirations are hitting early primary states, jockeying to win
the favor of major donors, and auditioning before conservative
activists.
Cotton has started running a hard-hitting spot in Ohio targeting Joe Biden over his policies toward China. He is expected to ramp it up even further with a forthcoming commercial assailing the former vice president for his criticism of Trump’s response to the coronavirus, which is widely thought to have originated in the country. Scott has run a pair of commercials, one in Iowa going after Biden on his family’s ties to Ukraine and the other in his home state, savaging Bernie Sanders for his past praise of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.
Aside from getting Trump's back, Cotton and Scott are using the spots to introduce themselves to voters. Both appear prominently: While Scott is face-to-camera, Cotton’s features a side-by-side shot of him with the president. Cotton, an Iraq War veteran, is seen wearing combat uniform with a machine gun strapped to his chest.
In separate interviews, neither Scott nor Cotton explicitly denied interest in running for president in four years. They deflected questions about whether their efforts could help position them for presidential runs down the line, saying they were just interested in bolstering Trump.
Cotton has started running a hard-hitting spot in Ohio targeting Joe Biden over his policies toward China. He is expected to ramp it up even further with a forthcoming commercial assailing the former vice president for his criticism of Trump’s response to the coronavirus, which is widely thought to have originated in the country. Scott has run a pair of commercials, one in Iowa going after Biden on his family’s ties to Ukraine and the other in his home state, savaging Bernie Sanders for his past praise of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.
Aside from getting Trump's back, Cotton and Scott are using the spots to introduce themselves to voters. Both appear prominently: While Scott is face-to-camera, Cotton’s features a side-by-side shot of him with the president. Cotton, an Iraq War veteran, is seen wearing combat uniform with a machine gun strapped to his chest.
In separate interviews, neither Scott nor Cotton explicitly denied interest in running for president in four years. They deflected questions about whether their efforts could help position them for presidential runs down the line, saying they were just interested in bolstering Trump.
“We know
that we’re a closely-divided country when it comes to politics,” Cotton
said. “And any person that Democrats nominate, the president is going to
take seriously [and] I personally take seriously.”
Cotton
said he was considering expanding his advertising campaign to other
battleground states such as Michigan and Pennsylvania, which have lost
manufacturing jobs to China.
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.
The senators said they had each spoken with the Trump team about
their efforts. Cotton noted that he had personally chatted with the
president about his belief that China would play a central role in the
general election.
“Sen. Scott and Sen. Cotton have been strong allies of the president,” said Tim Murtaugh, a Trump campaign spokesman. “Their support is much appreciated.”
Both men have taken other steps to position themselves for 2024. Later this spring, Cotton is slated to headline a political dinner in New Hampshire, a key early primary state. He is also helping one of the state's Republican Senate candidates, Don Bolduc. Cotton has filmed a TV ad for Bolduc that is expected to run later this spring.
Scott visited the state prior to last month’s New Hampshire primary to stump for Trump.
The Florida senator indicated he hadn’t given much thought about 2024 or how his efforts might affect what unfolds in the coming years.
“Oh, I don’t know,” he said. “There’s always a risk-reward, right?"
“Sen. Scott and Sen. Cotton have been strong allies of the president,” said Tim Murtaugh, a Trump campaign spokesman. “Their support is much appreciated.”
Both men have taken other steps to position themselves for 2024. Later this spring, Cotton is slated to headline a political dinner in New Hampshire, a key early primary state. He is also helping one of the state's Republican Senate candidates, Don Bolduc. Cotton has filmed a TV ad for Bolduc that is expected to run later this spring.
Scott visited the state prior to last month’s New Hampshire primary to stump for Trump.
The Florida senator indicated he hadn’t given much thought about 2024 or how his efforts might affect what unfolds in the coming years.
“Oh, I don’t know,” he said. “There’s always a risk-reward, right?"
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