Senate Republicans preparing for 'potentially catastrophic' election blowout with 12 seats now in play: report
What was once four or five Republican seats in the Senate that appeared endangered or already lost on November 3rd has grown to a dozen, reports Politico as top GOP officials find themselves on their heels on multiple fronts.
According to the report, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) could be looking at his last days controlling the Senate that has been notable more for packing the courts than passing legislation that helps the country during his tenure.
While Republican Senate seats in Maine, Colorado, North Carolina and Arizona already appear to be lost causes for the GOP leadership, Politico's James Arkin reported that more GOP senators are finding themselves "scrambling" in more states than the party had planned for.
"Republicans are scrambling resources into red and purple states alike — from Kansas and South Carolina to Iowa and North Carolina — cutting down Democrats’ massive financial edge and hoping for a late-breaking turn in their favor, similar to four years ago. But their defensive posture underscores just how broad the playing field is, with nearly a dozen Republican senators in various levels of danger, and only two Democratic seats at risk," wrote Arkin.
According to Josh Holmes, a top adviser to McConnell, all is not lost and the party won't be wiped out before cautioning, “the low-water mark is potentially catastrophic.”
“What was a significant downturn for most Republican candidates over the last couple weeks has sort of rebounded a bit,” Holmes elaborated. “All of these competitive races are within the margin of error, and you could have a whole bunch of scenarios play out on Election Day. The options are basically endless.”
Noting that "Democratic campaigns have spending advantages over Republicans in 12 of the 13 most competitive states," the report goes on to point out that the GOP is shoring up campaigns in Iowa, Montana, Alaska, South Carolina and Texas.
“The map is very tight. It is on a knife's edge,” lamented one Republican strategist working on the races.
According to Democratic strategists, their party has benefitted from a Republican Party severely damaged by four years of Donald Trump.
"Democrats’ expansion of the map came thanks to strong recruiting in a handful of unexpected places, incredible fundraising across the board and a nosedive in Trump’s numbers over the summer and into the fall. In states like Kansas, Alaska, Montana and South Carolina, Democrats fielded candidates that put races that would otherwise be afterthoughts into play, though recent public polling shows Republicans narrowly leading in all four," Arkin wrote.
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