Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., may be ticking down the hours until next week's midterm elections (Nov. 8), but he's also not counting his party's proverbial chickens before they hatch — regarding how the Senate Republicans might fare on Election Night.
"I think we'll pick up all 21 [current Senate Republican] seats, and then [win] at least two more seats. ... But we have to get out and vote," Scott told Newsmax Wednesday evening, while appearing on "Spicer & Co." with hosts Sean Spicer and Lyndsay Keith.
From Scott's perspective, the Senate Republicans' strategy likely breaks down into four parts:
Step 1: Holding onto Senate seats in traditionally conservative, or "red" states.
Step 2: Relentlessly promoting Senate candidates in battleground states, such as Ohio (Republican J.D. Vance), North Carolina (Rep. Ted Budd), Florida (Sen. Marco Rubio), and Wisconsin (Sen. Ron Johnson).
Step 3: Hoping the novice Senate candidates in Georgia (Republican Herschel Walker), Arizona (Blake Masters), Pennsylvania (Dr. Mehmet Oz), and Nevada (Adam Laxalt) can continue their upward trajectories and finish strong down the stretch.
Step 4: Try not to act too surprised if the Senate Republicans pull off upsets in traditionally left-leaning states, such as New Hampshire (Republican Don Bolduc), Washington (Tiffany Smiley), Colorado (Joe O'Dea), and Connecticut (Leora Levy).
"Early [voter] turnout's going well, and we just have to get the majority," says Scott, also the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC).
"We have great candidates who are running [excellent] races," says Scott, while adding the majority of Senate Democrat candidates "cannot defend their positions" on inflation, the U.S. economy, crime, drugs, or the chaos at the United States-Mexico border.
When asked to identify which issues will likely garner the most attention in the final days before Election Night, Scott quickly notes "crime and inflation."
Regarding inflation, the above line prompted Scott to lament how certain banks in New Hampshire are reportedly lending money to residents right now, in anticipation of their customers needing extra funds — just to cover their energy bills this winter.
For the Georgia race, Scott heaped praised onto Republican challenger Herschel Walker, who has surged ahead of incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga. in recent weeks — despite the Democrats spending heavily on TV/radio/Web ads questioning Walker's character.
Walker's running "a great campaign" and Warnock has "had to defend [President Joe] Biden's record" over the last 20-plus months, says Scott, before adding that "Warnock should be running [for office] in New York," since he votes 100% in line with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
The NRSC has "defined Warnock" in TV/radio/Web advertisements, and "his approval rating is down to 40%," says Scott.
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