GOP imploding over fears it can't win back the House

This is not a good sign for Republicans hoping to win control of the House in 2020.

More than a year out from Election Day, Politico reported that Republican members of Congress have already begun to publicly gripe about the National Republican Congressional Committee, the political arm of the House GOP that helps recruit and run races for House candidates.

GOP lawmakers are frustrated with the NRCC’s inability to match Democrats’ online fundraising prowess and are concerned about the committee’s communication strategy — with Republican members of Congress going on record to criticize the communications staff’s behavior, according to Politico’s report.

Republicans for years have vowed to create an online fundraising system like Democrats’ ActBlue platform, which has helped Democrats rake in millions of dollars from grassroots donors online. The online system was a huge help for Democrats in 2018, when they won control of the House in a sweeping Blue wave.

But six months after announcing their own online fundraising system, Republican members of Congress still don’t know when it will be operational or how it will work, according to Politico’s report.

“I would have hoped it would be launched by now. Because I do believe sooner is better than later,” Rep. Tom Reed (R-NY) told Politico. “It’s a real concern by a lot of members… This needs to get done.”

GOP members are also not amused by the mean-spirited attacks coming from the committee’s communication staff. For example, the NRCC dubbed freshman Democratic Rep. Max Rose — a veteran elected in 2018 to a competitive district in Staten Island, New York — “Little Max Rose.”

“I was bothered by that attack on Max Rose,” Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) told Politico. “The president’s got his own unique style. I don’t think we need to mimic it. I was really disappointed by that and I hope we do better.”

This all comes as the NRCC is losing the very member of Congress it tasked with recruiting top-tier candidates to challenge Democratic incumbents in 2020, yet another ominous sign for their chances at winning control of the lower chamber.

Not to mention, Republicans are so worried about Trump’s dismal approval ratings and poor standing in the polls that they fear losing the Senate, where Republicans have a built-in advantage given the seats that are up for reelection in 2020. If Republicans think the Senate is at risk, then their chances at a House takeover — which has many more swing seats and fewer GOP pick-up opportunities — are really grim.

Ultimately, the fact that Republicans are already trying to throw the NRCC under the bus before the election cycle really begins in earnest is not a promising sign for the GOP’s hopes of taking the speaker’s gavel from Nancy Pelosi.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.