Once a week or so, CNN writes a story about how badly the Republican Party is going to do in the 2018 mid-term congressional elections. This week’s version was headlined: “2 signs Senate Republicans are starting to get nervous about the midterms.”
On January 30, this: “Democrats are in the catbird’s seat in the 2018 midterms.” On January 19: “Why Republicans should start panicking, in 1 chart.”
And so on, week after week. You get the idea.
But all the optimistic hyperbole is missing something: Facts.
So, here’s a fact for you. A top Democratic group is warning party leaders that they’re in danger of blowing what should be a political advantage in 2018 if they continue to ignore what Americans care most about while haranguing President Trump with nonstop frivolous attacks.
According to internal polling by the super political action committee, Priorities USA, Trump’s approval rating has risen to 44% — up 4% from a previous survey. And that rise comes despite the liberal onslaught against Trump pushed by liberals and their media minions.
But there’s much worse news for Democrats. The survey found that the Democratic Party’s generic ballot advantage has shrunk: Now, 46% prefer Democrats while 42% support Republicans, the PAC said in a memo.
Compare that to the numbers hyped by Dem cheerleader CNN, which on December 17 — in a story headlined “Democrats’ 2018 advantage expands” — reported that Democrats had widened a generic party lead over Republicans to a 56-38 margin.
“The memo says that a broad range of metrics show the political climate is still favorable for Democrats. But it also makes an unambiguous diagnosis for Trump’s recent rise: Democrats this year have stopped focusing on economic and health care issues, topics that demonstrably hurt his approval during his first year in office,” McClatchy wrote.
Priorities’ polling found that while people in November readily mentioned Trump’s health care and tax reform measures, by February they were instead more cognizant of his tweets.
Democrats, the memo said, must “not allow themselves to be sidetracked and distracted by Trump’s latest tweets.”
“While still on track for a successful November, the extent of Democratic gains will be blunted if Democrats do not reengage more aggressively in speaking to the economic and health care priorities of voters,” it said.
The MSM has sought to paint Trump as out of the mainstream on immigration — but survey after survey finds that regular Americans support border security by a huge margin. The Trump tax cuts were also maligned by the media, but working Americans this month are seeing more money in their take-home pay, which no doubt is bolstering approval for Trump and Republicans.
Yet the Priorities USA memo says, “There’s no question that Trump benefits when a critique of his tax and health care policies is not front and center — especially when voters are hearing Trump’s side of the story on the economy.” Those issues have, of course, been “front and center” — but Trump’s winning on the merits of his policies.
“When voters have heard messages from both Democrats and Republicans on the tax bill, Democrats have won,” the memo says. “Unfortunately, that debate has been relatively one-sided recently and voters have not heard nearly as much from Democrats.”
Ha! The MSM has done nothing but hype the Democrats’ endlessly negative take on the state of economy and the party’s fight against tax cuts for Americans.
Just imagine how bad it would all be for Democrats if there was a level playing field.
Via DailyWire
