Pennsylvania GOP Senate nominee Dave McCormick today stressed getting Republicans out to the polls as a higher priority than persuading independents to vote for him.
When McCormick was asked about his strategy to win the November election, he said at an energy roundtable earlier today, “You can’t even start to talk about independents or Democrats until you say, ‘Our people are out to vote.’”
McCormick said his strategy to push for high turnout is to be “everywhere all at the same time,” arguing the math is “pretty straightforward” when you look at the number of counties in Pennsylvania that are Republican leaning.
McCormick also acknowledged “a lot of volatility” because of the change at the top of the ticket on the Democratic side. But he remained adamant that once you have the “foundation” of big voter turnout, then you can start thinking about courting independent voters.
“Eleven percent of our voters are independent,” McCormick said. “Most of them are really unhappy with the future of the country and the future of Pennsylvania. Some of them are in supportive of President Trump, many of them are. I am hoping I can make a big push to get those folks very engaged.”
He said he believes the way to win this campaign is to make the choice between him and incumbent Sen. Bob Casey “very stark and clear.”
Pennsylvania Republican state Rep. Joe Hamm, who was part of the round table, said he has told Trump’s team members they need to be more disciplined in their messaging when they have asked him what he is hearing and seeing in the state.
“His messaging is killing us when he’s talking about how [Harris] identifies, you know, with her race. Who cares? Let’s talk about the border. Let’s talk about inflation and how, you know, hard work from Pennsylvania’s Americans are struggling to make ends meet. Let’s talk about their policies and what it’s done to our Commonwealth and this nation,” Hamm told McCormick.
McCormick responded, “When I talk about my campaign, it’s a team score. It is up and down the ballot. Hopefully my race can have an effect both up the ticket and down the ticket.”
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