A White House-backed group is going after a Republican senator who refuses to support the GOP healthcare bill
Zach Gibson/Getty Images
The attack startled many Republicans, who think the threatening tactic lacks strategic value and belies a breakdown in communication between Congress and the White House.
"Running ads targeting the most vulnerable Republican incumbent senator for not voting for a bill" that is is fairly unpopular "is one of the dumbest things that can be done by this group, or any group for that matter," Evan Siegfried, a Republican strategist and author of the book "GOP GPS," told Business Insider.
Heller will likely face a tough reelection battle in 2018. Hillary Clinton won the state of Nevada in November, and the state expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare.
In a tweet on Friday, America First Policies - which is run by former Trump campaign advisers - accused Heller of lying to his constituents.
Heller told reporters that he could not support a bill "that takes insurance away from tens of millions of Americans and hundreds of thousands of Nevadans" and fails to lower insurance premiums.
Siegfried called the ad campaign, which will reportedly be rolled out this week, "reckless" and counterproductive, arguing that the move has likely delighted Democrats.
"If they're going to attack the very people they need and end up hurting us to the point that it results in Democrats taking that seat, they'll have nobody to blame but themselves," he said, adding that the move is reflective of Trump's approach to Congress, which he said is to treat Republican lawmakers as "middlemen," rather than powerful political forces.
Matt Mackowiak, a conservative consultant and president of Potomac Strategy Group, agreed that the attack plan will likely be unhelpful to Trump and the GOP, but noted that the strategy was not intended to be persuasive. Rather, the White House is attempting to send a signal to other Republicans who are on the fence about the bill.
"It was about deterrence, not about persuasion," Mackowiak said.
So far, five Republicans have said they will not vote for the bill in its current form, and five others have voiced concern about it.
Mackowiak argued a more conciliatory approach would likely be more effective, but noted that America First Policies might be making up for opportunities it missed during the House healthcare debate.
"They were looking back at the House experience and saying I wish we'd done this then, let's do this now," Mackowiak said, adding that these kinds of outright attacks are often more effective against congressmembers, who are up for election more frequently than senators are.
But Siegfried said that Trump is likely incapable of effectively persuading or pressuring GOP lawmakers.
"The Trump mindset is to attack - they've never been able to encourage and cajole people into doing things," Siegfried said. "It was a carrot and stick situation without a carrot, and they went right to the stick."
While Trump himself has not directly attacked Heller or other Republicans, he tweeted his displeasure with them last Saturday.
Amid reports on Monday that America First Policies might scale back its planned attacks on Heller, following pressure from Republican leadership, the group tweeted on Monday afternoon that it "won't hold back."
Erin Montgomery, a spokesperson for America First Policies, told the Washington Examiner on Monday that the group had never considered de-fanging its campaign against Heller.
"We were always making multiple creative ads in the event that Heller changed his mind, but we're not giving him a second chance," Montgomery said. "We are moving forward with ads regardless, we're not waiting on him to change his mind.
The Associated Press reported on Monday that the group was expanding its campaign to include four other Republicans critical of the bill: Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, Sen. Mike Lee of Utah and Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin.
Why did @SenDeanHeller lie to voters about #RepealAndReplace? He's now with @NancyPelosi. NOT GOOD! #HellerVotesYes
- AmericaFirstPolicies (@AmericaFirstPol) June 24, 2017
I cannot imagine that these very fine Republican Senators would allow the American people to suffer a broken ObamaCare any longer!
- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 24, 2017
We won't hold back. Americans need to know @SenDeanHeller is blocking the #RepealAndReplace of FAILING Obamacare!https://t.co/3pScNqzkLn
- AmericaFirstPolicies (@AmericaFirstPol) June 26, 2017
- 2 states where home prices are falling because there are too many houses and not enough buyers
- US buys 81 Soviet-era combat aircraft from Russia's ally costing on average less than $20,000 each, report says
- A couple accidentally shipped their cat in an Amazon return package. It arrived safely 6 days later, hundreds of miles away.
- BenQ Zowie XL2546X review – Monitor for the serious gamers
- 9 health benefits of drinking sugarcane juice in summer
- 10 benefits of incorporating almond oil into your daily diet
- From heart health to detoxification: 10 reasons to eat beetroot
- Why did a NASA spacecraft suddenly start talking gibberish after more than 45 years of operation? What fixed it?
- Nothing Phone (2a) blue edition launched
- JNK India IPO allotment date
- JioCinema New Plans
- Realme Narzo 70 Launched
- Apple Let Loose event
- Elon Musk Apology
- RIL cash flows
- Charlie Munger
- Feedbank IPO allotment
- Tata IPO allotment
- Most generous retirement plans
- Broadcom lays off
- Cibil Score vs Cibil Report
- Birla and Bajaj in top Richest
- Nestle Sept 2023 report
- India Equity Market