Posted on 06/27/2016 9:44:26 AM PDT by Hojczyk
On paper, Republicans Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania and Rob Portman of Ohio should be losing in the polls in their U.S. Senate re-election races.
Both men have been hammered for a month over whether they will support their party's presumptive nominee, their opposition to voting on President Obama's Supreme Court nominee and their refusal to enact new gun legislation after the massacre in Orlando. Yet both are defying conventional political wisdom.
Toomey increased his lead over Democrat Katie McGinty by 8 percentage points in the latest Quinnipiac survey.
Portman's numbers improved by 9 points, placing him in a tie with Democrat Ted Strickland, a former governor who lost his re-election bid to John Kasich in 2010.
The two Republicans are competing in critical states that offer insight into whether Democrats can regain House and Senate majorities in November.
There has been much speculation over the impact Trump will have on Republicans' congressional majorities, and much speculation that his awful months of May and June would show him sliding in both states' polls.
Surprisingly, he didn't slide. In fact, in the same Quinnipiac survey showing Toomey and Portman gaining traction, Trump held steady.
(Excerpt) Read more at triblive.com ...
So conventional wisdom is not holding up this election cycle?
Somebody needs to tell that to ABC/Washington Post.
Toomey is going down in flames.
One too many attempted gun-grabs.
Voters will turn out to vote Trump but leave
the Senate line blank (or write someone in).
I wouldn’t bet on that.
Toomey’s up nearly double digits at this point.
If he’s going to be taken down by the gun lobby they better get some ads out there telling folks why he’s a problem. Because frankly haven’t heard one person in PA talk about Toomey being a gun grabber.
She gets around and really knows her stuff. She also visits this forum regularly and has even posted on rare occasions.
PA is much like MA, everywhere is Republican except the cities.
Don’t know about Toomey in PA but Portman will win in OH.
She is excellent. I still would be surprised if GOPe Portman wins
If the Dems want to win Pa, this gun grabbing stunt will not help. This state is the second largest NRA membership state next to Texas. Bashing the NRA and going for our guns is not the way to our hearts. Combine that with Hillary’s bashing of coal miners and anti fracking position and she is alienating a lot of old line Democrats that would have been classified as Reagan Democrats 30 years ago.
Hope not...we might be too focused on Trump and forget house & senate.
Toomey is “evolving” into Arlen Specter. That strategy will pick up enough mushies in the Philly suburbs to win. He is not going anywhere.
Thanks for the info, that is good to know.
There has been much speculation over the impact Trump will have on Republicans’ congressional majorities, and much speculation that his awful months of May and June would show him sliding in both states’ polls.
I have seen this meme ad infinitum in so many articles I’ve lost count. What was so awful about Trump’s May and June anyway? I see Trump signs in neighbor’s yards; record daily fund raising totals for the candidate and event after event packed to the gills. If this is the conventional wisdom, the purveyors of such drivel must have had their wisdom teeth pulled at a very early age.
It's been talked about plenty; his latest schtick to filibuster with the Democrats for gun control has been noted in many places. He definitely got an earful when he partnered up with WV's Manchin on "common sense gun control."
I don't know about characterizing him as a "gun grabber," but he certainly appears to have as befuddled an idea of "shall not be infringed" as the Supreme Court and people in PA have noticed that.
... and the near suburbs. I live in Motgomery Cty, PA — a formerly rock-ribbed republican suburb of Philly. No more. The reason Arlen Spector lasted so long was because he knew where the votes were (and how to get them). The reason he drove everybody nuts was because he reflected the schizophrenic politics in this area. Politics that were increasingly democrat.
Don’t give up hope in PA. I think MANY union rank and file will go against the bosses and vote Trump they KNOW unions are NOT protecting their jobs they can SEE how many jobs have shipped out!!! Trump is going to win this overwhelmingly with AMERICA FIRST message!!!! REMEMBER BREXIT..........just maybe PAEXIT!!!!!
I hope youre right. I’d love to see the Philadelphia Democrat machine get its political comeuppance.
Don’t live in Pittsburgh anymore, but I agree the Trib is a much better paper than the Post-Gazette IMHO. Salena is also very good. I enjoy reading her articles online.
RINO’s almost always get re-elected. Portman isn’t as bad as Toomey but still......
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