Texas U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, hopes Angus King will caucus with the GOP if he’s elected in November. However, Cornyn said he’s not holding his breath. 

Cornyn made those comments during an interview with CSPAN over the weekend (scan to 4:37 of the interview). He added that his counterpart Patty Murray at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee was "doing nothing" to help  the duly elected Democratic nominee, state Sen. Cynthia Dill. 

Not much new is revealed in the clip as it furthers the narrative that King is simply Democrat cloaked as an independent. However, it’s interesting that Cornyn and the NRSC continues to mention Dill, who Republicans will need to perform better in order to help their nominee, Charlie Summers.

So how do Republicans help Dill, and do so subtly? 

Michael Franz, a political science professor at Bowdoin College, said the GOP is already doing it by repeatedly saying that the DSCC has made a deal with King. Additionally, Franz said, the NRSC is hammering away at the King caucus question; it may seem a bit esoteric to everyday Mainers, but it feeds into the strategy of painting the former governor as someone who isn’t being totally straight with voters. 

"If they can make (King) appear like he’s not who he says he is, that could drum up support for Dill," Franz said  

 

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