Do NRA woes translate into GOP woes?

The National Rifle Association aired an avalanche of TV ads and pushed its 5 million-plus members to the polls for Donald Trump in 2016, propelling him in the Rust Belt states that delivered him the presidency.

Now, the gun rights group is in total meltdown — and senior Republicans and Trump 2020 officials are alarmed.

  Politico

Sad!

In recent weeks, the NRA has seen everything from a failed coup attempt to the departure of its longtime political architect to embarrassing tales of self-dealing by top leaders.

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With the Chamber of Commerce and Koch political network withdrawing from their once-dominant roles in electing conservatives, Republicans worry that three organizations that have long formed the core of their electoral infrastructure will be effectively on the sidelines.

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What makes the NRA such a potent force for Republicans, party officials said, are its reach into battlegrounds — such as Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, North Carolina and Ohio — and the sway it holds with its members.

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“Infighting and accusations playing out almost daily in the national media regarding the NRA have not been helpful. Clearly it will have an impact in the NRA's ability to raise money, which would be used in elections to turn out its membership,” [Chris LaCivita, a national GOP strategist] said.

With the organization mired in palace intrigue and confronting a daily barrage of negative publicity, some NRA officials are skeptical a 2020 plan will emerge. Many Republicans are convinced the job of turning out Second Amendment supporters will fall to the cash-flush Republican National Committee, which is constructing a massive get-out-the-vote and data machine devoted to turning out conservatives.

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The organization's troubles are hard to overstate. The most serious threat is an investigation by New York state attorney general's office into its tax-exempt status. In April, NRA President Oliver North was ousted in an ugly public spectacle in which he declared the group was in a "clear crisis." News organizations have also reported that NRA chief executive Wayne LaPierre used $275,000 of the group's money to buy luxury clothes at Zegna in Beverly Hills, Calif., and that the organization logged tens of thousands of dollars in other expenses that benefited its officials.

Trump weighed in on the NRA's problems Tuesday morning, tweeting that the group is a "victim" of "political harassment by New York State and Governor Cuomo."

Any investigation into Trump support is harassment in his mind.

Issues surrounding the Republican Party's outside infrastructure go beyond the NRA. The Chamber of Commerce, a key player in Republican politics over the past decade, spent just $10 million during the 2018 cycle, about a third of what it spent during the previous election cycle, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. The scale back has led many to believe the organization, a staple of the business community, is preparing to play a diminished role in 2020.

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In April, Chamber leaders told The Washington Post they were seeking to rebrand the organization as a bipartisan outfit.

Are they seeing some handwriting on the wall?

Scott Reed, the group’s chief political strategist, denied the group is retrenching. This fall, he said, the Chamber would launch a multimillion-dollar effort to defend the Republican Senate majority.

“We will be spending money earlier this cycle on the Senate than we’ve ever spent in the 100-year history of the Chamber,” he said.

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Meanwhile, the Koch network is gradually shifting away from partisanship and toward policy issues like addressing poverty and drug addiction.

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaat?

The network, which like the Chamber has at times found itself at odds with the president, plans to sit out the 2020 presidential race and is recasting itself in a nonpartisan fashion.

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The new approach has rankled some longtime Koch donors, who complain the powerful network — which played a pivotal role in helping Republicans capture the Senate majority — is abandoning the GOP.

I wonder if anyone in the GOP is paying attention.

David McIntosh, the president of the Club for Growth and a former Republican congressman, said he was particularly troubled by the Koch network's decision to refocus its efforts. After Barack Obama's 2008 election, he noted, the network filled a vacuum by providing the devastated party with much-needed infrastructure.

“Right now, the party is functioning," McIntosh said. "But if you see another collapse or if we lose the White House, I think you’re going to see Republicans frankly in a world of hurt without a major funding group like that.”

Sad!

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE: