Senate Majority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell sounded a lot like Paul Ryan, as he told Republicans on Fox News that Democrats are fired up and coming to take back Congress.
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McConnell said when asked about the Senate midterm races, “The left is obviously fired up. They have been doing great on fund-raising. The turnout and the Virginia governor’s race was stunning. All Republican supporters, we need to be turning out in big numbers this fall because Democrats are fired up. They want to take the Congress back. We have a chance to hold it, but it does require a lot of enthusiasm. The Democrats are fired up, no question about it, but so are we. We are going to be really fired up come November.”
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Mitch McConnell sounded a lot like Speaker of the House Paul Ryan sounding the alarm to his Republicans that Democrats are coming for them.
The numbers suggest that McConnell is wrong. Republicans are apathetic and have a serious turnout problem. Democrats are winning or making massive gains in special elections in Republican districts and states across the country. Republicans simply have not been as engaged and energized as they were for previous midterm elections. It is always easier to get voters out to take back Congress than it is to get them to show up on Election Day to keep it.
Republicans are being forced to spend tens of millions of dollars on races that should have been a given for them. The problem that they will face in November is that they won’t have enough dark money to defend House seats, Senate seats, open Senate seats, and state races all at the same time. Republicans can’t billionaire spend their way out of this problem, which is why McConnell was trying to get Republicans to show some life, because the blue wave is coming, and it may sweep McConnell out of power.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
