WARREN PUSHES FOR DEM-RUN CAPITOL HILL
... but Diehl, polls claim Blue Wave has receded
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren rallied the crowd at a town hall in Roxbury yesterday, pushing the need for Democrats to gain control over the House and the Senate in the upcoming November midterm elections, but her GOP rival Geoff Diehl and polls suggest the longed-for Blue Wave is over — Warren’s party overplayed its hand in the Kavanaugh
confirmation fight.
“I get it, we won’t get the White House, but to have the House and the Senate is to make the down payment,” Warren said at her town hall event Hibernian Hall in Roxbury.
Diehl — though seen as an underdog likely to lose his own challenge of Warren — said the controversy surrounding Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s recent confirmation hearings hurt the Democrats, and he claims, Warren herself.
“I think with the Kavanaugh hearing specifically, she really used a situation that was unfortunate ... and used it to turn it into a fundraising tool for herself; I think that was a mistake,” Diehl told the Herald.
In recent polls, Republican Sen. Ted Cruz has surged and is now up eight points over challenger Beto O’Rourke, while in swing states like North Dakota, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Nevada and Michigan, Republicans are also up in the polls, with gains in the wake of the Kavanaugh hearings.
GOP political operative Ford O’Connell said Democrats took a hit after from the “Kavanaugh effect.”
“Absolutely it backfired on the Democrats because it woke up Republican voters,” said O’Connell. He said prior to the Kavanaugh hearing, there was a much-touted “Blue Wave” which has now receded.
O’Connell said Democrats are “all but locked out” of the Senate, though the House is up for grabs and could fall into Democratic hands.
Democratic political consultant Scott Ferson agreed a blue Senate is unlikely while the House remains competitive between the two parties leading up to the election. He said of the Kavanaugh issue, “It has energized the base on both sides.”
In the House, Republicans are projected to take 201 seats while Democrats will land 205 seats. The remaining 29 seats are a toss-up according to the polls, with 218 seats needed to maintain a majority.
In the Senate — now split 51-49 in the GOP’s favor — the Democrats are projected to hold just 44 seats, while the GOP is secure in 50 seats, with six seats mostly leaning Republican, raising the prospect of a larger GOP majority there.
Warren said she has no regrets about speaking out against Kavanaugh, “This has been a really painful episode in America; I am not sorry I got in this fight.” And so far, her own seat seems safe.
As of Thursday, Warren was up 25 points in the polls leaving her at 56 points and Diehl with 31 points.