Secretary of State Natalie Tennant is apparently about to play her best card in an attempt to catch Representative Shelley Moore Capito in the race for the U.S. Senate. Tennant recently told supporters at a fundraiser in Washington, D.C. that she is going to turn up the heat on Capito’s support from the banking and financial services industry.
“Our next set of messages… is going to move us even closer in this race. And that’s right, we have a message that we can talk about. Congresswoman Capito has benefited personally (emphasis added) from her dealings with Wall Street. She’s benefited personally while West Virginians hurt,” Tennant tells the supporters.
Interestingly, the Tennant audio was released by the Capito campaign. Why? Capito evidently wants to get out in front of what could be a damaging attack. The seven-term Republican sits on the powerful House Financial Services Committee and is often criticized for being overly sympathetic to banks, says Politico.
“The financial industry, in particular, considers Capito a go-to person for its concerns about the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial regulation law. And it’s more than returned the favor this cycle,” M.J. Lee wrote in a July 14th Politico article. “Individuals and PACs associated with the finance, insurance and real estate sectors have donated more than $750,000 to Capito so far in support of her Senate bid.”
Polls show the public has a low opinion of Wall Street and big banks, especially after the financial crisis of 2007-2008 that led to a $700 billion taxpayer bailout. A Gallup Poll last June found just 26 percent of Americans have a “great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in big banks. “Americans’ confidence in banks is still far below the pre-recession level of 41 percent measured in June 2007,” Gallup reported.
Tennant has been making the “too-cozy-with-Wall-Street” accusation against Capito since the start of the campaign. She brought in the Senate’s leading critic of the big banks, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, to help deliver the message.
“I’ve also seen Congresswoman Capito in action on the House Financial Services Committee, and time and again I’ve watched her side with powerful financial interests over working people,” Warren said during a campaign stop in West Virginia last July.
But that tactic has yet to move the needle. In fact, Capito’s lead has lengthened. Real Clear Politics’ average of three polls (WV Poll, Rasmussen, CBS/NYT/YouGov) has Capito moving from nine points up in early August (49-40) to a 19 point lead just a month later (53-34).
But if Tennant’s new ad campaign reflects her comments at the D.C. fundraiser, the attack is about to become more pointed with the allegations Capito has “benefited personally” from her position. Capito responded to that charge during an appearance Friday on Talkline.
“I think that’s absolutely ridiculous,” Capito said. “It’s the politics of personal destruction. What you see from my opponent is a desperate Hail Mary pass.”
The Capito campaign has consistently operated with an air of inevitability, while the challenge for the Tennant campaign is the same today as it was when she announced one year ago—puncturing that perception.