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A4 U.S. NEWS
Thursday 9 augusT 2018

Republicans promote fear, not tax cuts, in key elections

By STEVE PEOPLES and BILL ing GOP debate for now. in a district that's been in Luntz said Trump energizes stood it.
BARROW Going forward, the de- Republican hands since the Republican base, but The tax debate comes
WASHINGTON (AP) — bate over highlighting the before he was born. On that his broadsides and amid new evidence of a
There's a border crisis in tax law will help determine the defensive, Balderson distractions will also alien- Democratic surge in early
Pennsylvania. The radical elections across America.
left is surging in New Jer- Michigan Democrats will
sey. And Nancy Pelosi is a feature the state's first all-
threat to New York. female statewide ticket this
Republican candidates in November following Tues-
the nation's premiere mid- day's primary elections.
term battlegrounds have Democrat Rashida Tlaib
embraced a central mes- also won a race to run un-
sage in their fight to main- opposed for the Detroit-ar-
tain the House majority this ea House seat vacated by
fall — and it has little to do John Conyers, making her
with the surging economy poised to become the first
or the sweeping tax cuts Muslim woman in Congress.
that the GOP celebrated In Kansas, 38-year-old at-
as a once-in-a-generation torney Sharice Davids won
achievement just eight her congressional primary
months ago. and became the state's
Instead, as Republicans first Native American and
enter the final month of gay nominee for Congress.
the primary season, they're Both Davids and Tlaib
looking ahead to a gener- campaigned aggressively
al-election strategy of em- against the Republican tax
bracing anxiety as a tool cuts.
to motivate voters. That Beyond avoiding the tax
was clear this week as the law, there has been a con-
GOP's closing message sistent theme for Republi-
in an Ohio special elec- cans across House battle-
tion questioned Democrat Troy Balderson, Republican candidate for Ohio's 12th Congressional District, speaks to a crowd of grounds: casting the Dem-
Danny O'Connor's connec- supporters during an election night party Tuesday, Aug. 7, 2018, in Newark, Ohio. ocrat as too liberal.
tion to Pelosi, the House Associated Press A National Republican
Democratic leader and Congressional Committee
preferred super villain for ad in Ohio tied Democrat-
Republicans. whether Republicans will appeared in a late ad sit- ate the swing voters who ic candidate O'Connor to
"We wish it got the pitch maintain control of Capitol ting next to his ailing moth- tip battleground House dis- Pelosi and "the liberal re-
forks out and it doesn't," Hill after November. er and promising that he tricts. sistance movement." A su-
GOP ad maker Will Ritter While Republicans are re- wouldn't dismantle the so- "This is political malprac- per PAC backed by House
said of the Republican tax luctant to engage on tax cial safety net. tice," he said. "You can't Speaker Paul Ryan charged
cuts. cuts, it's a fight Democrats It's somewhat similar to find me a time in modern that it was O'Connor who
Some Republican strate- — and their voters — want. the problems Democrats times when the economy would cut Social Security
gists are frustrated the par- "The tax cuts were for the faced in 2010, when they was this strong and the and Medicare by $800 bil-
ty isn't focused on the tax top ... income earners," said controlled the White House governing party was head- lion; fact checkers have
law or the broader health George Stringer, a 58-year- and Congress and man- ed toward a potential po- questioned the accuracy
of the economy in the run- old Democrat who lives in aged to pass the most sig- litical disaster like this." of the attack.
up to Election Day. Others Detroit. "The rich keep get- nificant health care legisla- Republicans are also reluc- In central Kentucky, GOP
concede that in the Trump ting richer, the poor keep tion since the creation of tant to embrace their tax Rep. Andy Barr is reminding
era, there's no better moti- getting poorer." Medicare and Medicaid. cuts because the benefits voters that Amy McGrath,
vator than fear of the other In Ohio, which hosted They celebrated with Presi- don't change the house- a former fighter pilot, vot-
side, particularly the pros- the season's final special dent Barack Obama in the hold budget for many ed for President Barack
pect of Pelosi returning to election, O'Connor railed Rose Garden, only to run Americans. The party pre- Obama and opposes
the speaker's chair. against the tax cuts as a from it in the midterm elec- dicts that will change next Trump's proposed border
The plan had some success giveaway to the rich that tions that became a disas- year when families file their wall. In suburban Pennsyl-
in Ohio: The race was too threatened Medicare and ter for the party. first tax returns under the vania, vulnerable Repub-
close to call Wednesday Social Security. While his President Donald Trump, new law. But as elector- lican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick
as Republican Troy Balder- Republican opponent may plagued by scandal and al strategy, that's akin to has warned of "a border
son maintained a razor-thin prevail, the 31-year-old wed to his Twitter account, Democrats in 2010 insisting in crisis" and demanded a
advantage over O'Connor, Democrat trailed by less sits atop the struggle. voters would like the health surge of immigration en-
staving off an embarrass- than 1 percentage point Republican pollster Frank care law once they under- forcement agents.q