The Florida senator's choice to release an ultraconservative plan fuels suspicion about his 2024 ambitions, including a possible White House bid, multiple Republicans said.
When Sen. Rick Scott broke ranks with the GOP leadership by releasing an 11-point election-year agenda this week, the Florida lawmaker said he just wanted to run Republican and give conservatives something to vote for. Were.
But Scott, the chairman of the party's Senate campaign wing, did much more than that.
He gave the Democrats something to attack. He promoted division within his party. And he has fueled suspicion among fellow Republicans that he is challenging the Senate GOP leader, thinking more about his own 2024 ambitions than a goal of topping Democrats in the midterm this year.
“It is quite unusual that the president of the campaign has set out an agenda that is not supported by the entire leadership. And some parts are clearly controversial that may play well in some primaries but harm Republicans in the general election, Ron Bonzen, a former Senate GOP leadership aide, said. "Many Republicans are asking the question, 'Why take a shovel away from Democrats who are digging their own graves right now?
Complete with provocative images, including a fiery constitution, Scott's plan is exactly the kind of ultra-conservative wish list Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., wanted to avoid campaigning as he tries to get midterm voters focused on him. what he sees as failures. President Joe Biden.
Under Scott's plan, millions of people who are too poor to pay federal income tax would be forced to do so, while all federal laws would expire within five years—including Medicare, Social Security, and criminal law. Huh. The scheme will also prevent government forms from asking for gender identity.
Ignoring McConnell, Scott's team expected and expected an outcry from Democrats who received the plan. White House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Cal., and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.
But his strategy on Tuesday also revealed the behind-the-scenes tension between his political operation and McConnell's.
Scott's former pollster and collaborator, Tony Fabrizio, unexpectedly entered the fray on Twitter by accusing McConnell of underreporting, and he questioned the wisdom of the plan that called for everyone to pay something in taxes — Something that the Democrats quickly framed as a tax increase.
Fabrizio wrote on Twitter, "While I applaud my friend @SenRickScott for having an agenda (though not embracing or saddening the GOP with the tax increase), if you're about to challenge @LeaderMcConnell, So just say that." "Don't shadow box."
Fabrizio's remarks came in response to a post by Scott's top political adviser, Kurt Anderson, who criticized journalists for quoting anonymous Republican critics of Scott's plan.
"Memo to reporters," Anderson wrote. "When the anonymous adviser who helped us lose the Senate majority complains about Rick Scott's http://rescueamerica.com plan, call me and I'll destroy them on the record. The idea that we should be without a plan. Must be sneaky and calm, it's an old 90's thinking."
Suspicion arose in McConnell's class and among Scott shortly after Scott was tapped to head the National Republican Senate Committee, when he rejected the leader's request and Biden's presidential victory following violent riots at the Capitol. Voted against certifying. Former President Donald Trump intended to stop that process.
McConnell supporters worried that the vote would make fundraising difficult, although this ultimately did not happen. Some Republicans close to McConnell also followed suit when Scott cut down an ad featuring himself during the special Georgia Senate race that both Republicans lost on January 5, 2021 — the day before the Capitol riot.
A Republican who spoke frequently with McConnell said the leader and Scott had a "professional worker-like relationship. But I wouldn't call them friends."
"The fact is, McConnell has been doing this for a long time and he knows what he's talking about," the source said. "Then Rick Scott comes along and does just that, causing a huge unnecessary news cycle and for what? Rick Scott? Where's the win?"
Another Republican in McConnell's class said that Scott did not upset McConnell by releasing his plan, this embroiled Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, the chairman of the Senate Republican convention, who was talking to his aides about whether his own plan. to issue or not. Barrasso's office declined to comment.
McConnell's office did not respond to a request for comment.
It is typical for an aspiring legislator to play on political grounds with a proposal – or even a full agenda – that party leaders see as dangerous to their efforts to gain a majority in Congress. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, led a fight to shut down the government as he prepared for the 2016 presidential bid, and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-VT, with his 2020 Medicare for All push. Previewed the Democratic presidential campaign. divided his party and shaped that year's primary debate.
What's different about Scott's maneuver is that he's the party leader responsible for the Senate GOP's 2022 midterm fate. It has prompted some fellow Republicans to question whether he's in a position to run for president himself -- or for McConnell's job.
It is "clearly a matter of ambition for the party to release its own agenda," said an aide to a Senate Republican leader. "If he's going to throw up the election of '22 to position himself for '24, that doesn't bode well for his future."
Although he is not up for re-election until 2024, Scott is launching a campaign-style ad on his plan and has roundtable discussions with reporters about it. He is also due to speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Saturday, where he is expected to mention the resolution.
In an interview, Scott argued that the plan would not harm any of his party's candidates. He also said he was neither jockeying for the 2024 GOP presidency nor trying to undermine McConnell.
Asked if he is interested in becoming Senate GOP leader, Scott issued a one-word response: "No." He shook himself a little more in the next presidential election.
"It's not in my plans. No," he said. "I'm working to become a US senator."
Scott said last week that he would support McConnell for Republican leader, even though Trump - to whom Scott is close - is attempting to lash out as leader over his criticism of Trump for the January 6 riots.
Scott portrayed his move as an individual member of the Senate, not the chairman of the National Republican Senate Committee.
"I agree that the election will be about Biden's failures," he said. "There has to be plans for campaigns, to run something. It's not the NRSC's plan. It's not the Republican Party's plan. These are things Rick Scott believes we should be talking about. "
That's not how Democrats see it.
Scott. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki tweeted. "Seriously, that's their plan."
What will be important to Scott if he has designs for McConnell's office or the GOP presidency, is whether Republicans want to marry his proposals. Some in the GOP applauded him.
"Maybe it bothers McConnell, but much worse," said a senior staff member of a Republican senator running for re-election this year. "Rick made himself a player in his own way in the party and in DC. He sticks to his guns. He doesn't forgive. The Left is losing its mind. And our voters are like, 'Yeah. Thank goodness that someone owns the libs.'
A senior Senate Republican aide said: "A lot of it is what Republican voters want, what donors want."
GOP voters want "red meat," the aide said, "and Rick Scott just brought a herd of cattle."