'They're going to punish the president': Flailing campaign spurs stark warning for GOP
The Republican party received a stark warning on CNN Sunday morning as a group of political experts tried to figure out which exactly was Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's biggest problem.
Paxton's campaign against Democrat state Rep. James Talarico — which has Republicans wringing their hands over their vulnerable majority in the Senate — has three major problems, according to the panel.
The first, said Republican strategist Kristin Davis, is messaging.
"It's time to start saying, 'Okay, we really need to make the case,'" she said. "Get out of the Twitter world, get out of the internet, talk about the real life issues that are going on and people in Texas."
But Kate Bedingfield argued Paxton's messaging wasn't ever going to land with a group of voters who represent Paxton's second big problem: women.
Democrats on the ground in Texas have apparently told Bedingfield that the party is having a real problem swaying moderate and independent women to their side.
"Texas is a state where Republicans should not have to, in theory, be spending money to defend a seat that should be, you know, a cakewalk," she said. "He is a very damaged candidate."
The cause of this damage represents the third and biggest problem, argued co-panelist Jamal Simmons: the powerful political leader who endorsed him, President Donald Trump.
"The problem is that Make America Great again is not making America great," he said. "Making America great again is making America look goofy. "
Simmons rattled off a host of problems that have plagued Trump's second administration that included measles outbreaks, rising inflation and trade wars with Canada.
Then Simmons delivered his warning.
"The president is treating Washington, D.C., like it's his own personal amusement park," he said. "This is not what America voted for and I think they're going to punish the president on Election Day."