Even though the cable-news pundits can’t stop talking about the next election two years in advance, most Americans generally only begin to click into an election cycle after Labor Day. Mid-September, every two years, is the most fertile time for political opinions to solidify and that’s when most people make up their minds about who they’ll vote for in a presidential or mid-term cycle. So it is this year – people are just starting to click in post-Labor Day. Which is probably why polls conducted in the past week have Trump’s approval numbers sinking to all-time lows. In most polls, he’s below 40%, approval, with a majority of Americans agreeing that Trump is stupid, traitorous and bad for the country. What’s great is that the mid-terms are rightly being seen as a referendum on Trump, especially since the Republican-led Congress won’t do anything to check his power. Which might explain why Ol’ Turtleface Mitch McConnell is doing the Eeyore routine in the press now:
Republicans have grown increasingly worried about losing control of the Senate, as President Trump’s approval rating tumbles and Democrats gain steam in key battleground races. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday sounded some of the most doubtful notes of Trump’s presidency that Republicans will keep the upper chamber of Congress, telling reporters, “I hope when the smoke clears, we’ll still have a majority.”
His comments came as Republican strategists and officials fretted over a fresh round of private polling on the Senate races, while public polls registered further erosion in Americans’ approval of Trump. “Shipwreck” was how one leading strategist described the situation, adding an expletive to underscore the severity of the party’s problems.
The developments signaled the most serious peril yet for Republicans’ 51-49 majority. Losing the Senate was once an unthinkable prospect as the GOP looked to gain seats in the midterms, and with the party’s grip on the House in serious jeopardy, the chamber had been seen as the last line of defense.
At the start of Trump’s tenure, some Republicans envisioned enough wins to secure a filibuster-proof majority of 60 seats, confident they could oust many of the 10 Democrats running in states Trump won in 2016. Even a few weeks ago, Republicans were talking more assuredly about flipping seats. But less than two months till the Nov. 6 election, Republicans barely mention Ohio, Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania — states Trump won — as opportunities to knock out a Democrat, while McConnell reiterated that nine seats, plus Texas, were at stake.
“Arizona, Nevada, Tennessee, Montana, North Dakota, Missouri, Indiana, West Virginia and Florida. All of them too close to call, and every one of them like a knife fight in an alley; I mean, just a brawl in every one of those places,” McConnell told reporters in Louisville.
My senator, Tim Kaine, is up for re-election this year and I’ve already sent money to support his reelection campaign (I got a t-shirt!). I don’t even think Kaine’s in a dogfight, especially since his opponent is pretty flagrantly a white supremacist. But there are dogfights, like Beto O’Rourke trying to take out Ted “Zodiac Killer” Cruz and incumbent Democrat Joe Donnelly in Indiana. This is just a reminder to everyone: vote early and vote often. These midterms need to be HUGE. It’s not just the House on the line, it’s the Senate. We could take both. We desperately need to take both.
Photos courtesy of Getty.
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