When asked why she picked Hirono over Case, Murray said Hirono “really strikes a chord with me” and “understands what people are going through.”
Hirono was present for the opening of the briefing along with Reps. Shelley Berkley (Nev.) and Tammy Baldwin (Wis.). The other two female recruits Murray highlighted, Elizabeth Warren in Massachusetts and Heidi Heitkamp in North Dakota, were not there.
“So that’s why I’m so bullish on 2012,” Murray said. “We’ve recruited great candidates at a time when our country is really hurting, and people are looking for people who are talking about the issues that mean something to them.”
National Republican Senatorial Committee spokesman Brian Walsh responded to the event with a taunt.
“Democrats lost seven Senate seats last cycle, and independent voters by wide margins, because their message and their candidates were to the far left of most voters in their states,” Walsh said in a statement. “So whether it’s in Wisconsin, Nevada, North Dakota, or elsewhere, it’s remarkable to watch history already begin to repeat itself.”
Rep. Bill Cassidy has his blood drawn by Alesha Barbour during a free hepatitis screening in the Rayburn House Office Building hosted by the Congressional Viral Hepatitis Caucus to recognize "National Viral Hepatitis Testing Day."
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