This is an adapted excerpt from MSNBC’s special coverage of the 2024 Republican National Convention on July 16.

Republican Senate candidates took center stage on the second day of the 2024 Republican National Convention, including two notable and familiar faces: failed Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake and Pennsylvania’s Dave McCormick. Both Lake and McCormick’s races will be critical as Republicans and Democrats battle for control of the Senate this November.

Let’s start with McCormick’s bid against incumbent Democratic Sen. Bob Casey in Pennsylvania. I remember Casey’s first campaign for the U.S. Senate. I was working very hard with the Republican Party to defeat him — we were ultimately unsuccessful. At that time, I recognized some of the dynamics Casey brought to the table that made him a successful swing state candidate. He appealed not just to the more liberal parts of the state — southwestern Pennsylvania or Philadelphia — but also to the more traditionally conservative or center-right portions. Casey was and still is, in many respects, a quintessential Pennsylvanian candidate who has across-the-board appeal to voters.

The same can’t be said for McCormick, who comes into November’s election with a serious handicap: the Republican Party’s MAGA baggage. The lies of the MAGA agenda are dissected a lot cleaner and a lot easier in statewide races where the margins are tighter. Now, if you’re Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene or any Republican running in a heavily red district, that’s not something you necessarily have to worry about. But for McCormick in Pennsylvania and Lake in Arizona that should be top of mind. 

As for Lake, she spent her time onstage Tuesday lying about a number of topics, including that her Democratic opponent in Arizona, Rep. Ruben Gallego, wants to let “millions” of undocumented immigrants vote in the upcoming election. Those lies, which are a key part of the MAGA playbook under Donald Trump, will catch up to her in November. 

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As long as Democrats quickly put the concerns over President Joe Biden’s candidacy behind them, they’re in a much stronger position this election cycle. There’s no Biden baggage on policy; Democrats don’t have to lie to voters. They can talk about abortion, they can lean into the Supreme Court, and they can run on the infrastructure bill and the CHIPS Act. 

That ability to have that clear and concise narrative is essential for victory at the ballot box. It’s how I helped the Republican Party win in 2010. Under my leadership as Republican National Committee chairman, the GOP scored huge wins in the House and the Senate. Those victories didn’t come because we focused on battleground states alone. We had to create momentum elsewhere that boiled back into those battleground races. With the MAGA baggage weighing the Republican Party down, that task will be much harder today. 

Join Michael Steele, Rachel Maddow and many others on Saturday, Sept. 7 in Brooklyn, New York, for “MSNBC Live: Democracy 2024,” a first-of-its kind live event. You’ll get to see your favorite hosts in person, and hear thought-provoking conversations about what matters most in the final weeks of an unprecedented election cycle. Buy tickets here.