Things have gotten so bad for Republicans heading into the midterms that some of their strategists don’t want anyone to see the polling, according to a top election analyst.
Jessica Taylor, Senate and governors editor for the Cook Political Report, said on MS NOW this weekend that a single conversation from last week captured the mood.
“The overall environment is just so bleak right now,” Taylor said. “I talked with one strategist last week and they said, you know, no one even wants to show anyone polls because they’re so bad right now.”
The host asked whether Republicans were really on their back foot. Taylor pointed to where the party is spending its money.
“Just to tell you how bad it is, the fact that Republicans are spending in Kansas and South Carolina right now,” she said. “It’s little fires everywhere that are turning into potentially big fires.”
Republicans have had to pull money out of North Carolina and Georgia “to save these seats that are over 16-point Trump states,” Taylor said.
Democrats still don’t have the cash to compete everywhere, she noted. But the GOP’s money edge isn’t paying off in Texas, where Republicans have spent close to $200 million.
“Ken Paxton’s numbers are not moving,” Taylor said.
She was blunt about the House.
“The House is virtually gone at this point,” Taylor said, “and right now I think most of the energy is turned to saving the Senate.”
Her comments came the same day as Trafalgar Group, a Republican-leaning polling outfit, showed Democrat James Talarico leading Paxton by 3.5 points.