Boston Globe columnist Kimberly Atkins Stohr said on Saturday that Republicans are panicking about the midterms, and she put the blame on President Donald Trump.
The host of the MS NOW panel pointed to the Senate Leadership Fund, the main super PAC for Senate Republicans. It has been cutting future ad spending in states including North Carolina and Alaska. Atkins Stohr said the numbers tell a clear story.
"They say that the map is changing in a very, very bad way for Republicans, and they are worried about it and they are freaked out about it," she said.
She said Republicans have no answer on the issues voters care about most. They aren't promising to end the war in Iran, "which is as unpopular as can be," and they have no clear plan to lower prices or deal with labor shortages hitting farms and businesses.
"And that's all because Donald Trump tying it in," Atkins Stohr said. "Donald Trump is the anchor that is weighing them all down."
She said Trump's own campaign is now keeping him in safe territory. "The fact that they're sort of limiting him like, okay, you can play over there, but don't go anyplace else tells you a lot," she said.
According to Atkins Stohr, voters are connecting Trump's decisions to their own bills in a way they didn't with Joe Biden.
"Gas and food prices are high. Why? Because of the war in Iran. The labor shortage is hitting farms. Why? In part because of the draconian immigration practice," she said. "And all he's talking about, or mostly what he's talking about, is the Kennedy Center or his art or a ballroom. And that really altogether has voters very fed up."
Another panelist compared the moment to 2006. That year, an unpopular war and doubled gas prices helped Democrats win both chambers of Congress.
