Mason, Ohio – Yesterday, the New York Times called out Washington Republicans for their childish name-calling. The Times noted the NRCC went so far as to label Nikki Foster, Democratic candidate in Ohio’s 1st Congressional District and a Major in the U.S. Air Force with 217 combat missions over Iraq and Afghanistan, “a socialist loser.” Currently serving in the Air Force Reserves, Foster also works at GE Aviation, where she helps transitioning veterans find work, and is a mother of two young boys.
“It’s shameful, but not surprising, that Washington Republicans would disrespect a combat veteran who has honorably served our country in the U.S. Air Force for the last sixteen years and continues to serve both in the Reserves and by helping other veterans find work when they get home,”
said Nicole DeMont, spokeswoman for Nikki Foster’s campaign.
“Republicans like Congressman Chabot have time and again chosen to put their Party over their country, and that’s exactly why voters will choose Nikki Foster next November.”
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
New York Times
With Name-Calling and Twitter Battles, House Republican Campaign Arm Copies Trump’s Playbook
By Catie Edmondson
July 17, 2019
The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee is portrayed as wearing clown makeup. Democratic congressional candidates — including an Air Force combat veteran — are labeled “socialist losers” or anti-Semites. Others have been singled out as Lyin’ Lucy McBath, Fake Nurse Lauren Underwood, Little Max Rose and China Dan McCready.
The National Republican Congressional Committee, with the blessing of House Republican leaders, has adopted a no-holds-barred strategy to win back the House majority next year, borrowing heavily from President Trump’s playbook in deploying such taunts and name-calling. After losing 40 seats and the House majority in November, Representative Tom Emmer of Minnesota, the committee’s new chairman, and Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, the Republican leader, decided that their messaging needed to be “ruthless.”
The offensive hinges largely on the relatively facile notion that by tagging all House Democrats as socialists, anti-Semites or far-left extremists, they will be able to alienate swing-state voters. On Tuesday night, after the House voted to condemn as racist President Trump’s attacks on four congresswoman, the campaign arm’s communications team deluged reporters’ inboxes with message after message calling vulnerable Democratic lawmakers “deranged.”
Their tactics have discomforted some Republicans and highlighted the struggle in the party over how much to lean into the tenor of politics forged by their leader.
“To devolve into childish name-calling usually doesn’t win the argument. I think we can do better,” said Tom Rooney, a former five-term Republican representative from Florida. “Maybe this is what the donors to the N.R.C.C. want to hear nowadays. Maybe name-calling raises money, and that’s what we’ve become.”
[…]
While committee messaging is, by nature, meant to attract the attention of the news media — especially among local outlets in battleground districts — party insiders have worried they have not attracted the right kind of attention.
[…]
When the committee called a little-known Air Force combat veteran who is running for Ohio’s First Congressional District a “socialist loser,” it struck a nerve: A columnist for The Cincinnati Enquirer panned the attack on the veteran, Nikki Foster, who flew missions over Iraq and Afghanistan, as “G.O.P. desperation.” “In doing so, the congressional Republicans’ fund-raising arm brought attention to a candidate no one knew about. Why even go there?” the columnist, Jason Williams, wrote. Read the full story here.
About Nikki Foster
Nikki is the daughter of immigrant parents who worked hard to achieve the American Dream. Nikki’s dad emigrated from the Philippines as a teenager and worked as an auto mechanic. Her mom came to the United States as a young child and worked as a secretary. Nikki attended the U.S. Air Force Academy and was the first in her family to graduate from college. After 9/11 she signed up for pilot training, where she met her husband, Rob. During her twelve years of active duty, Nikki deployed five times and commanded more than half of her 217 combat missions over Iraq and Afghanistan. She attained the rank of Major and now serves as a USAF Academy Admissions Liaison Officer in the Air Force Reserves. Nikki works at General Electric, where she helps recruit and hire veterans from all branches of the military into the company. She also volunteers as a veteran career transition counselor for Hire Heroes USA, a national nonprofit helping veterans transition back to the civilian workforce. She lives in Mason with her husband, 9-year-old son Wyatt, and 9-month-old son Henry.
Download Nikki’s headshot here.
Nikki Foster is a member of the U.S. Air Force Reserves. Use of her military rank, job titles, and photographs in uniform does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Air Force Reserves, the Department of the Air Force, or the Department of Defense.