Look, it’s great you are thinking very optimistic about the 2018 mid-term election but saying the DEM can easily pick up the 25 seats needed to win back House is just, well, I think someone needs a drug test! – PB/TK
Democratic Congresswoman: Oh, We’ll Easily Pick Up 25 Seats Next Year (But Omits Radioactive Pelosi Factor) – By Matt Vespa / June 28 2017
Rep.Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) was on CNN Monday, where the Illinois Democrat was quite optimistic about winning the 25 seats needed to retake the majority. She noted that Democrats have been outperforming their margins in the various special elections held this year, while noting that Georgia Sixth, where Republican Karen Handel beat Democrat Jon Ossoff in the most expensive House race in history, is pegged as one of the hardest districts for Democrats; Ossoff lost by a thin 52/48 margin. Still, it’s a loss. Democrats are 0-4 in special election losses; a fact that seems to be ignored to their peril when it comes to 2018 projections. In all, it’s a bit insane that we’re making these prognostications, given that the midterm season is still a little over a year away. Yet, Ms. Schakowsky remains hopeful saying, “If we do that well around the country, we will easily win the 25 seats that we need.”
Not so fast there, Jan. Nate Cohn of The New York Times’ Upshot blog has some cold water for you. Yes, Democratic turnout was the highest in maybe a decade for an off-year election in GA-06, but GOP turnout was especially high in the runoff, as was the spike in nonwhite and young voters, who broke for Ossoff. These spikes canceled each other out. At the end of the day, the fact that GA-06 was a Republican district, coupled with higher June 20 turnout from GOP voters, was enough to put Handel over the top. There was a high number of Republicans who did break for Ossoff though, which Cohn says is the only way he was able to reach 48 percent in a red district. Still, that’s the same share of the vote Ossoff received in the April 18 primary. The only difference is that he blew $30 million in Democratic money to get the same result on June 20. He did do better than Hillary Clinton, however, by one point. The wild card was black voter turnout, which was depressed, despite a solid ground game operation by Ossoff’s crew. Here’s where things are murky for Democrats as they look to 2018 [emphasis mine]
Continue to townhall.com article: https://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2017/06/28/democratic-congresswoman-oh-well-easily-pick-up-25-seats-next-year-n2347103
