“The voters agree with us… We know that where you could see by referendum the questions like increasing the minimum wage, like equal pay for equal work, like making sure that women’s health care was not unnecessarily restricted, Democratic policies were supported by voters and Republican policies were rejected. We have evidence, by voter turnout and election results, that voters do agree with us on that.”
With all the numbers tallied, out of 251 races, NRA-backed candidates won in 229, over 91 percent of Congressional races in which they endorsed a candidate.
According to the Washington Examiner, NRA spokesman Andrew Arulanandam explained that the Second Amendment group was able to win at this level because individual NRA members were motivated to vote for freedom. He said: “Our members came out in droves and voted for their rights and their freedom. This was one of the most successful election cycles in a decade.”
He listed some of the higher profile wins as the defeat of Senators Kay Hagan (D-NC) and Mark Pryor (D-Ark.), both of whom were replaced by NRA-endorsed candidates with an “A” rating on gun rights.
And while groups like Bloomberg’s Everytown for Gun Safety largely endorsed incumbents to pad their resume or piggy-backed on the NRA by endorsing the same candidate as the NRA in some races–Michigan Governor Rick Snyder (R) for instance–Arulanandam said the NRA threw its weight behind candidates in tough races when gun rights were on the line. One such race was in Virginia, where former pro-Second Amendment challenger Ed Gillespie (R) tried to unseat pro-gun control Senator Mark Warner (R-VA). Keep on reading...
Democrats aren’t planning a shakeup despite the thumping they took at the polls on Tuesday.
Leaders in both the House and the Senate — including Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) — are expected to retain their spots atop the party in the next Congress, while the White House, in similar fashion, says it will keep its top staff largely intact.
"The president is somebody who doesn’t make personnel changes just for cosmetic reasons," White House press secretary Josh Earnest said Thursday.
The decision to stick with the status quo sends a clear message that Democrats believe Tuesday's disastrous outcome was caused by factors beyond their control, and that they see themselves as best suited to steer a comeback.But it's also sparked concern among some party operatives and rank-and-file members that the Democrats' rebound strategy lacks fresh voices, novel ideas and a new public image.
Most of the grumbling is happening behind closed doors, but some are going public with calls for soul-searching in the party.
“Washington always wants you to throw out bodies after a bad election, so you'll hear that hew and cry," former White House advisor David Axelrod told MSNBC on Election Day. “People will leave on their own because six years is a long time, but [Obama] also has to say, 'What went wrong; what went right; what do I need to do to make these next two years successful?' “
“I think that would be a wise thing to do," he added. Keep on reading...
Let the circular firing squad begin. In a report by the Washington Post David Krone, chief of staff of dethroned Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), tossed the Democrats’ brutal midterm odds at the feet of President Barack Obama, arguing the White House undercut Senate fundraising efforts while saddling candidates with his unpopularity.
“The president’s approval rating is barely 40 percent,” Krone told the Post in the days before the election. “What else more is there to say? … He wasn’t going to play well in North Carolina or Iowa or New Hampshire. I’m sorry. It doesn’t mean that the message was bad, but sometimes the messenger isn’t good.”
Krone characterized working with the White House as “difficult” and gave voice to Democratic resentment that Obama’s electoral operation is more for his benefit than the party’s. “I don’t think that the political team at the White House truly was up to speed and up to par doing what needed to get done,” he said.
Keep on reading…
In a sign that they expect heavy losses on election night, Democratic leaders have decided not to throw any big parties in D.C. to watch the returns come in.
Instead, a few of the leaders will make themselves available to talk to reporters — and that appears to be it.
Traditionally, the major national party organizations rent out space in downtown Washington for viewing parties — the Dems took a ballroom in November 2006 when polls, rightly, suggested they would ride a wave to power — though the biggest events are in presidential election years.
In another sign of which party is optimistic this time around, the Republican National Committee said last week it had rented out the roof of the swanky W Hotel in downtown Washington to host its 2014 event.
Keep on reading…
Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) predicted Sunday that her party will hold the Senate in Tuesday's midterms thanks to its "superior" ground games in key states.
"I think we're going to hold the Senate," Wasserman Schultz said during an interview with ABC's "This Week." "We have a ground game that I know [the GOP] would take over theirs any day of the week."Wassermann Schultz also cited the high-level surrogates working with Democratic candidates on the campaign trail, including former President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Vice President Joe Biden.
Noting close poll numbers in key states, she said the Democratic party's advantages are "superior to the ones that Republicans have."
Joni Ernst has charged to achieve a 7-point lead over Democrat Bruce Braley in a new Iowa Poll, which buoys the GOP's hope that an Iowa victory will be the tipping point to a Republican takeover of the U.S. Senate.
Ernst, a state senator and military leader, enjoys 51 percent support among likely voters. That's a majority, and it's her biggest lead in the three Iowa Polls conducted this fall. Braley, a congressman and trial lawyer, gets 44 percent, according to The Des Moines Register's final Iowa Poll before Tuesday's election.
"This race looks like it's decided," said J. Ann Selzer, who conducted the poll for the Register. "That said, there are enormous resources being applied to change all that."
DENVER (AP) -- Republicans are taking a big lead in early voting in Colorado.A report from the Secretary of State on Friday showed that 104,000 more Republicans than Democrats had cast their ballots as the state conducts its first major mail-in election.Voters can also drop off ballots at polling stations and register through Election Day.Republicans usually lead in early returns in Colorado but rarely by such hefty margins.
President Barack Obama is about to do what no president has done in the past 50 years: Have two horrible, terrible, awful midterm elections in a row.
In fact, Obama is likely to have the worst midterm numbers of any two-term president going back to Democrat Harry S. Truman.
Truman lost a total of 83 House seats during his two midterms (55 seats in 1946 and 28 seats in 1950), while Republican Dwight Eisenhower lost a combined 66 House seats in the 1954 and 1958 midterms.
Obama had one midterm where his party lost 63 House seats, and Democrats are expected to lose another 5 to possibly 12 House seats (or more), taking the sitting president’s total midterm House loses to the 68 seat to 75 seat range.
Most recent presidents have one disastrous midterm and another midterm that was not terrible.
The GOP lost 30 House seats in George W. Bush’s second midterm, but gained 8 seats in his first midterm for a net loss of 22 seats. The party lost 26 seats in Ronald Reagan’s first midterm, but a mere 5 seats in his second midterm for a net loss of 31 seats.
This number jumped out at me from the new Washington Post/ABC News poll: It showed that, among Latinos, 50 percent say it doesn’t matter who wins the Senate come November. And among those who do think it will matter, twice as many say it would be a good thing (30 percent) if the GOP took over as say it would be a bad thing (15 percent).
This is a demographic, we will remind you, that voted 71-27 for President Obama just two years ago. And only 15 percent are concerned about a GOP-controlled Senate.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid warned in a fundraising pitch Wednesday that Republicans could try to impeach and remove President Obama from office if the GOP wins control of the Senate in next week’s elections.
“Frankly, a Republican House and Senate could go beyond shutting down the government — they could waste months of our lives on impeachment,” Mr. Reid said in a fundraising email sent by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, which is an outside group whose goal is to bolster liberal Democrats.
The email appeal asks for support for three Democrats in particular: Sen. Mark Begich in Alaska, Sen. Mark Udall in Colorado, and Rep. Bruce Braley, Democrats’ nominee in Iowa.
Keep on reading…
The latest Wall Street Journal / NBC News poll says Republicans have soared to a mind-blowing 11 point lead, with voters saying they want a Republican-led Congress by a margin of 52-41. The generic lead for the GOP was only 5 points in the same poll last week. The Tea Party wave elections in 2010 rolled in with only a 7-point lead. It’s relatively rare for the Republicans to have a lead on this question at all, even in years when they do fairly well.
Keep on reading…
While giving a get-out-the-vote speech at a Florence, South Carolina political event, Democrat gubernatorial candidate, State Senator Vincent Shaheen, told cheering fans of his opponent, sitting Republican governor Nikki Haley, "We are going to escort whore out the door."
Chris Matthews reacts to Democratic Senate candidates Michelle Nunn (D-GA) and Mark Begich (D-AK), an incumbent, dodging the question if they voted for Obama.
“That’s the way people walk past guys who are trying to get a buck or a quarter from somebody,” Matthews said describing the candidates ignoring the question from a tracker.
“It’s like Obama has Ebola,” Matthews said on Monday’s broadcast of Hardball on MSNBC. “I wasn’t near him! I didn’t touch him!”
Women have moved in the GOP's direction since September. In last month's AP-GfK poll, 47 percent of female likely voters said they favored a Democratic-controlled Congress while 40 percent wanted the Republicans to capture control. In the new poll, the two parties are about even among women, 44 percent prefer the Republicans, 42 percent the Democrats.In all, the poll finds that 55 percent of likely voters now expect Republicans to win control of the Senate, up from 47 percent last month. Democrats have grown slightly more pessimistic on this count since September, with 25 percent expecting the GOP to take control now compared with 18 percent earlier.
(Reuters) – President Barack Obama made a rare appearance on the campaign trail on Sunday with a rally to support the Democratic candidate for governor in Maryland, but early departures of crowd members while he spoke underscored his continuing unpopularity.
With approval levels hovering around record lows, Obama has spent most of his campaign-related efforts this year raising money for struggling Democrats, who risk losing control of the U.S. Senate in the Nov. 4 midterm election.
Most candidates from his party have been wary of appearing with him during their election races because of his sagging popularity.
Keep reading…
