The GOP Has a Money Problem: Show Notes, 11/21/22
Plus, movement in the Louisiana 2023 election cycle.
The Joe Cunningham Show airs 3-4 p.m. every weekday on NewsTalk 96.5 KPEL. The daily show notes offer you a look into the topics of the day and the links to the top stories and Joe's own writings on the state of politics in Louisiana and around the country. Follow Joe on Twitter at @JoePCunningham and Like the Joe Cunningham Show on Facebook. You can also subscribe to the Joe Cunningham Show podcast on Apple, Spotify, Stitcher, or Amazon.
Billy Nungesser Announces the Date He’ll Announce the Date He’ll Announce…
Billy Nungesser has been flirting with a gubernatorial run for a while, but we may be getting closer to a decision. Louisiana's Lt. Governor has announced the day he'll share his decision with the rest of the state - his birthday. According to WDSU, the 63-year-old will officially announce his intentions for the 2023 election cycle on January 10, the day he turns 64.
Nungesser is one of several officials expected to make a run for governor in 2023, however, recent developments have really shaken up how the race may play out.
Read More: Billy Nungesser Gives Date for Decision on Louisiana Governor Run
Who’s At Fault: Establishment, Candidate, or PAC?
Republican Senate candidates who were expected to do well underperformed, and there is a lot of blame going around. But the Associated Press points out that those candidates were not spending money. Instead, it was the Super PACs who were doing the spending, taking the power of exposure out of the hands of the candidates. That means there are three major problems for the GOP moving forward.
The first is candidate quality. Other than the ones mentioned above, the Republican Party saw itself burdened with either bad candidates or unpopular ones, and it certainly looks like ties to Trump hurt those candidates. That is something the GOP has to deal with even more with Trump having announced his candidacy for 2024.
The second is fundraising. Candidates are finding themselves without money and they can’t get exposure in the competitive environment that we currently have. The result is that well-funded Democratic candidates are soaking up all the ad time and Republicans can’t break through.
The third problem is the rise of the PAC and party-affiliated groups, which are raking in all the money that candidates so desperately need. The result of that is broke candidates losing out on airtime while consultants get paid an insane amount of money for increasingly poor results.
Read More: Mitch McConnell and Candidate Quality Aren't the GOP's Only Problems
Rough Start for Team USA
The World Cup began for the U.S. men’s soccer team today and it was a rough start. They entered the second half with a 1-0 lead but close to the end, American defender Walker Zimmerman commits just a stupid penalty in the box to give Wales a free kick and the tying goal. The U.S. really could have used a straight win to give them good headwind going into Friday’s match-up against England.
BUT: The big story at the World Cup is how much Qatar has spent trying to look good in front of the rest of the world, only to… not look good. They have spent hundreds of billions of dollars, built a new city and eight stadiums, and the actual operation of the event has been insanely bad. The country still has crazy human rights issues, has banned the sale of alcohol at the event, and FIFA is increasingly walking away with egg on its face.
Headlines of the Day
While the Press Melts Down Over 'Safety' On Twitter, Musk Purges Sexual Predators (RedState)
World Cup 2022: Iran's Ehsan Hajsafi speaks out over conditions in his home country (BBC)
Democrats confront bleak odds for immigration deal before 2023 (Politico)
America faces a possible rail strike in two weeks after largest union rejects labor deal (CNN)
Bob Iger returns as Disney CEO, replacing Bob Chapek after a brief, tumultuous tenure (CNBC)