Dem affiliated pollster Navigator Research tells Politico Playbook they tested Republican messaging on a potential border security deal such as Texas MAGA Congressman Troy Nehls admitting to CNN that he’s “not willing to do too damn much right now to help a Democrat and to help Joe Biden’s approval rating. I will not help the Democrats try to improve this man’s dismal approval ratings. I’m not going to do it,” finding that two-thirds of respondents in swingy House districts have “serious concerns” that the GOP are putting politics over solutions to what they constantly call a “crisis.”
“There’s a real opportunity here, where Dems around the country can raise their hand and be like: ‘It turns out they were bluffing. They weren’t serious. It was a sound bite for them,'” a Dem campaign operative said. “They’ve been talking about it, highlighting it and freaking everyone out – then when there’s a bipartisan deal, with a lot of Dem compromises in it, they went running for the hills.”