Senator Scott’s Bulging War Chest Could Fuel Higher Aspirations

The junior U.S. senator of South Carolina, Timothy “Tim” Scott, has quietly amassed more cash than any other national Republican candidate in 2022, signaling his strong status among Republican donors and possibly paving the way if he has White House aspirations.According to the latest Federal Elections Commission filings, Mr. Scott has collected some $46 million in donations, almost entirely from individuals. Unlike other senators with outsize war chests — such as Senator Warnock, who sits on $85 million — Mr. Scott isn’t facing a competitive race for re-election.The most recent polling from Echelon Insights and NetChoice shows Mr. Scott carrying 54 percent support and his opponent, Representative Krystle Mathews, at 37 percent. Ms. Mathews has been dogged by leaked audio of her saying that she has to treat her own constituents “like s—” to command their respect.Specifics of the race aside, if Mr. Scott doesn’t necessarily need all of that money for his campaign, what is it for?The most obvious answer is a possible presidential bid, with some analysts tossing his name in with the likes of Governor DeSantis, Vice President Pence, and Ambassador Nikki Haley as potential GOP successors to President Trump.A political scientist at the University of Dayton, Chris Devine, says he sees Mr. Scott as a candidate who might be able to thread the needle by appealing to conservatives while counteracting some criticisms of the GOP.“Clearly he has some ambitions for the presidency; he could even be positioning himself for the vice presidency,” Mr. Devine says. “I think given some of the criticisms of the Republican party that could be an asset as well.”He does, however, have reservations about Mr. Scott’s ability to win a Republican primary, namely because he can “hardly see him commanding the energy of the MAGA,” referring to the Trump slogan “Make America Great Again.” This is an opinion shared by a professor of political science at California State University, Northridge, Tom Hogen-Esch, who says Mr. Scott’s style of politics may not win him the favor of the GOP’s primary electorate.“They are looking for Trump himself or someone Trump-like,” he tells the Sun. “Can a ‘normal’ Republican like a Mike Pence or someone in the mold of John Kaisich, Mitt Romney, John McCain, or even a George Bush win the nomination?”He argues that any Republican’s decision about whether to run will likely revolve around the actions of Messrs. Trump and DeSantis, even though neither has yet officially declared a candidacy.Mr. Scott, for his part, has kept any presidential plans close to the vest even as he reports being asked about presidential aspirations on a daily basis.In an interview with a columnist, Salena Zito, he said that his faith “will be the genesis of that decision,” though there are some concrete signs, aside from his pile of cash, that he might be running or at least aiming for a vice presidential nod.In May, he traveled to Iowa — the first state on the Republican Party’s 2024 nomination calendar — alongside Senator Ernst to attend the Christian conservatives’ Family Leadership Summit at Cedar Rapids.Buffering the idea that he has possible vice presidential aspirations, Mr. Scott has said that he would support Mr. Trump in his re-election efforts and has signaled that he might be open to being his running mate.“I think everybody wants to be on President Trump’s bandwagon, without any question,” Mr. Scott told Fox News earlier this year.In 2021, he was elevated to deliver the Republican response to President Biden’s first address to a Joint Session of Congress in 2021. Although not necessarily signaling a presidential run, it is significant that the party chose Mr. Scott for this role over a party leader or a more senior senator.Less subtle evidence may be gleaned from Mr. Scott’s latest book, a memoir, “America, a Redemption Story.” The Post and Courier reports that the copyright page, which is used to outline how the book should be cataloged in the Library of Congress, references a presidential bid from the senator. “Senator Scott is a rising star who sees and understands the importance of bipartisanship to move America forward,” it reads. “This book is a political memoir that includes his core messages as he prepares to make a presidential bid in 2022.”While Mr. Scott denies any plans to run, this memoir and his war chest certainly provide enough evidence for healthy skepticism. Even in his denial, he signaled national aspirations.“It certainly is my opportunity to share my story — the pain and the promise of my story — with the American people without any question,” Mr. Scott said. “I hope that it goes beyond the borders of South Carolina, but it is absolutely not the beginning of a presidential election.”With speculation in the air, one certainty is that Mr. Scott is actively working to elevate his stature and influence in American politics through the Opportunity Matters Fund, a political action committee closely associated with Mr. Scott.So far, the committee has raised $26 million this election cycle and has already spent some $11 million influencing elections across the country, including purchasing ads in support of Senator Johnson in the Senate race in Wisconsin.

Senator Scott’s Bulging War Chest Could Fuel Higher Aspirations

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