Posted on 06/09/2014 8:51:57 AM PDT by Kenny
Democratic Party officials increasingly say they are convinced that their candidates will beat this year’s tough election cycle, retain the party’s majority in the U.S. Senate and maybe even flip some GOP strongholds from red to blue.
It’s a tall order that would require Democrats to overcome a lopsided 2014 electoral map, the drag of their party’s unpopular president and an almost daily uproar over White House blunders.
But the party’s strategists said they’ve devised a winning formula of keeping Democratic campaigns focused on local issues and not President Obama while demonizing Republican challengers as right-wing extremists or puppets of billionaire activists David and Charles Koch.
That’s why House Democrats are expanding their map of targeted GOP districts and Senate Democrats are eyeing pickups in deep red Kentucky, Georgia and possibly Mississippi.
“In each competitive Senate race right now there is a clear contrast between a Democratic candidate who is focused on creating opportunities for the middle class and is willing to disagree with their own party leadership and a Republican candidate that is beholden to the tea party and Koch brothers,” said Justin Barasky, national press secretary for Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.
“That’s what Republican Senate candidates embody up and down the map,” he said.
Democrats dismiss the notion that they are tainted by Mr. Obama’s low approval ratings or the steady stream of bad news and controversies flowing out of the White House. In just the last week, Democrats had to contend with the administration announcing unpopular new environmental rules for power plants, more horror stories from dysfunctional Veterans Affairs hospitals and blowback from Mr. Obama’s prisoner swap of five top Taliban terrorists for U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
I recall two weeks before the 2010 mid terms, Nancy Pelosi was guaranteeing there was “no doubt” the dems would hold onto their House majority.
Wouldn’t surprise me one bit.
I’ve talked to enough people to know most are Clueless about the damage being done by the Democrats and their Dear Leader.
Ok wait so when the democrats ACT like they will go against their party leadership (but never do) that's a good thing. But Republicans who go against their party leadership it's a bad thing.
hmmmmm....I smell a rat.
The media only uses their outrage gear when the GOP is in power. Usually they cruise along in second, barely reporting anything against the Dems, and shifting to fourth against violations of political correctness.
I hate to admit this, but I’ll help the democrats all I can regarding McConnel.
It brings up the interesting argument regarding why Obama won a second term. Imagine he’s the republican candidate and he’s running against a democrat, Hillary. Would you vote for the Democrat?
Many democrats voted for Obama in 2012 in the common US tradition: They were not voting for their guy. They were voting against the party they cannot bring themselves to ever cast a vote for.
yeah, let’s talk local pot holes and so on, and pretend that all this national disaster is not going on……..how did that work out for the Dems in 94, 2010?
They might. But this is a tough cycle for the dems. Other than 2008, when 8 senators were swept into office in the Obama wave (including several very close elections), this class of senators generally favors republicans.
This is the class where we took back the senate after Jim Jeffords’ betrayal and also the one where we GAINED two seats in the 1996 presidential election year.
On top of that, there are 11 freshmen senators and 5 retirements that the dems have to deal with. AND it’s the 6th year of a presidency with Obama dropping like a stone.
Add to this some good republican candidates and I think it likely that the republicans will retake the senate.
There are opportunities in AK, AR, LA, OR, CO, VA, NC, IA, MI, WV, SD, MN, NH and MT. Even half of these is seven seats!
The party with the most people disagreeing with the leadership is the better party, don'tcha know.
white flag on 0bamacare
amnesty for illegals by august
no charges after giving 5 top leaders back to AQ (but if done again would be treason...)
VA scandal
benghazi
NSA spying
IRS intimidation
IRS blocking TEA party groups
fast & furious
flooding the country wi more illegals
outing the top spy in Kabul (if you do it again,it’d be treason... again)
and that’s just off the top of my head in the last 18-24 months
why should the GOP “leaders” retain their post again??
Look, folks......No emotion here....whatsoever. There is only one way the Democrat Party is going to keep control of the Senate, and, that simply is, they march down to the White House and force Obama to resign or impeach him. Anything less then that brings political devastation on them, come November, 2014!!! The clock is ticking very quickly...with the election less then five months away!!!
My prediction is, assuming the Democrats continue to embrace Obama...whic the will do, they will lose 14-20 seats in the House and they will lose 8-12 Senate seats!!! With each passing day, with Obama is command, the Democrats are finding themselves in races they never, ever considered competitive!!!
And the Dems have enough plants on boards, twitter, and facebook to talk Republicans out of voting or that a Democrat is better than their current Republican.
Yeah, they may very well keep the Senate and take over the country outright.
If the Democrats are moderately successful at turning out their base voters - non-whites and single white women - Republicans have no chance to win a Senate majority.
The two races I have watched most closely - Virginia and Iowa - do not look promising for Republicans.
In Virginia, Gillespie will need to get about 65% of the white vote against a “moderate” Democrat.
That is probably impossible, so the only way to win there is if Democrat voters stay home like they did in 2010.
In Iowa, in 2012, Obama won the white vote 51%-47%.
For the Republican Senate candidate to win in Iowa, she will have to flip that number around, and a lot of the non-white voters will have to stay home.
The entire Democrat Party is focused on voter turn out for 2014.
Will they succeed?
I don't know.
But, if they are moderately successful, Republicans have no chance to win the Senate.
Not trying to get in a fight with anyone but to be realistic, you also have to factor in the Tea Party. I think it’s a high number of conservatives who either won’t vote or will cross over to the Dems because they don’t like the candidate.
I think that’s going to be a surprise factor in 2014. I actually think it was a big factor in 2012 but not recognized for what it was.
Before anyone tries to rip my skin off, I’m a Tea Party supporter.
It really will come down to who is counting the votes and democrats should have some confidence there. They have had some remarkable vote counts, and some recounts that are almost like magic.
They must have a crystal ball, they can see the future and make those predictions.
If it is any comfort to you, In 2012 the Democrats perfected the art of election stealing.
Even if they are the minority party they will control the Senate and set the agenda. We have seen the GOPe in inaction so often, we know the drill.
Like you, I support almost all the Tea Party candidates.
However, in 2012, the “Conventional Wisdom” that millions of Conservatives stayed home is not correct.
In 2012, about 4 million white voters stayed home compared to 2008.
However, Romney got 4 million more white votes than McCain!
Obama lost 6 million white votes in 2012 compared to 2008.
General conclusion:
Most of the 4 million white voters who stayed home in 2012 voted for Obama in 2008.
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