CNN strategist Karen Finney said she “had to read it twice” when she learned President Donald Trump planned to spend Election Day eve at the Reflecting Pool highlighting his controversial revamping agenda.
CNN’s John Berman asked how effective it is for Trump to go to the Reflecting Pool “to focus the country on his construction projects, which they’ve been telling pollsters all year round they don’t like.”
Finney, a Democratic strategist, said, “I had to read it twice to make sure I was reading that correctly. Wow.” She said, “Thank you, Donald Trump. You’re doing our job for us,” and called it a reminder to voters of why they’re angry at him. She cited a Wall Street Journal poll finding people want “a check on his power” and an end to the war in Iran, and said Democrats “are going to get it.”
Berman then turned to Republican strategist Neil Chatterjee, who had a slightly different take on things.
Chatterjee said he’d rather see Trump at the Reflecting Pool than in Maine or Michigan. He argued the strategy “actually does work” to “gin up the Republican base in the red states where Republicans need turnout,” and keeps Trump away from blue and purple states, where candidates “probably want to show some independence from him.”
He included Iowa and Ohio in that category.
Tuesday's election has analysts widely expecting Democrats to win control of the House. The Senate is closer, but recent projections have given Democrats a strong chance of winning the chamber.