Raffi Williams, deputy press secretary of the Republican National Committee, was on campus Tuesday. The Chronicle's Jenna Zhang sat down with Williams to speak about the race for North Carolina's senate seat and its implications.
The Chronicle: In recent polls, Senator Kay Hagan and Representative Thom Tillis have been neck and neck. What do you think will make or break the elections between now and November?
Raffi Williams: I think what you’re going to see is increasing focus on Hagan’s record while in the Senate, you’re going to see increasing importance in the decisions Obama makes— whether it’s ISIS or the immigration crisis, these are the things that are going to be at the forefront of people’s minds, as they’re making the decision over who should control the Senate, because a lot of people think that this race could determine who controls the Senate.... Voters in North Carolina could end up deciding whether it’s a Republican or Democrat-led senate.
TC: The press secretary of the Kay Hagan campaign has mentioned that this is irrelevant because the President isn’t on the ballot. What would your response be?
RW: My response would be that Kay Hagan is their rubber stamp for President Obama, voting over 90 percent of the time with him and for his agenda, and that’s something that doesn’t align with the values of North Carolinians. They want somebody who can push pro-jobs, pro-growth, pro-legislation that [Senate Majority Leader] Harry Reid and Kay Hagan have been sitting on. When you think about the over 300 bills that haven’t been voted on in a box on the floor by Harry Reid, [it’s] really a problem for Obama and for North Carolina.
TC: Senator Hagan’s campaign and outside groups have been hammering in the “War on Women” attack on Representative Tillis recently. How do you think he should respond?
RW: I don’t run his campaign, but I can tell you that public reception says that Americans don’t buy the “War on Women.” They recognize it’s a political ploy and they don’t see the reality of it. So I think that this is them just grasping at straws, because they have nothing else to run on, because Obama and the Democratic agenda has failed. It’s a campaign stunt that the Democrats bring about every two years to try to scare people to the polls, and they do this because they’re scared to talk about the issues that Americans care about—jobs and economy being the primary ones.
TC: So would you say that issues that are generally labeled “women’s issues” aren’t at the forefront of this election, or at least shouldn’t be?
RW: Most women, the number one issues to them is putting food on the table, getting good jobs, making sure their families are taken care of—these are the issues that are driving them, and so I think that Democrats are making a bigger deal of an issue that isn’t to the American voter.
TC: Representative Tillis has repeatedly called for the repeal of the Affordable Care Act. What do you think would be on his agenda as an alternative to the health care law?
RW: Republicans have a lot of ideas out there, usually centered around tort reform, ensuring affordability—these are all the things that would bring down the price of health care and that’s what Americans want to see. They don’t want to see the government interfere in their doctor-patient relationships.
TC: Do you think the Affordable Care Act will remain a centerpiece of the race as we come down to the final months of the race?
RW: You definitely see that foreign policy and current events has taken a more center stage than usual. There was a recent poll done that showed foreign policy is going to be an issue for 70 percent of voters in North Carolina—usually, foreign policy isn’t a big issue. But the Affordable Care Act or Obamacare is still going to remain important for a lot of people—a lot of families, especially small business owners, as it affects the amount of people they can hire and whether they’re going to work a whole workweek. It hurts part-time workers, a lot of people have seen their work hours decrease. So it really is something that is an issue to a lot of voters.
TC: Representative Tillis was asked in the debate whether he considers the $7.25-an-hour federally-mandated minimum wage is a living wage, but he didn’t explicitly give an answer. How do you think the current minimum wage policies will change if Tillis is elected, and do you think $7.25-an-hour is a living wage?
RW: I think the minimum wage issue is really a state issue...the cost of living in Raleigh is very different from say the cost of living in D.C. or New York is. I think that you’re going to see a conversation about where Republicans stand on minimum wage if Republicans take back the Senate and I think we’re going to have a debate about this. But to say that X, Y and Z is going to happen—I can’t predict the future.
TC: What should we look out for in the next [Hagan versus Tillis] debate?
RW: I think that ISIS, of course, is going to be a big issue, and it will continue to be talked about a lot. I think they’re going to look out how the Kay Hagan voting record has benefited her personally, and that’s going to be an issue that comes up for her. I think you’re going to continue to see Tillis tie Hagan to Obama as a rubber stamp.
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