| | | | Democrats' 2020 Senate hopes just took an early hit |  | | Senate Democrats believe that they can recapture their majority in 2020, but those aspirations took a bit of a blow with two decisions over the past 24 hours.
The big one was 2018 Georgia gubernatorial nominee Stacey Abrams' decision to pass on a challenge to Republican Sen. David Perdue, perhaps in favor of a run for president in 2020. "The Senate provides a singular platform from which to address the issues of access to justice, economic security, health care and restoring the integrity of our nation's democracy," Abrams said in a video announcing the decision. "However, I am announcing today that I will not be a candidate for the United States Senate."
Abrams was Democrats' clear first choice to take on Perdue, a freshman senator sitting in an increasingly competitive state. (Abrams narrowly lost the governor's race in one of the marquee races in the last election.) There's a long list of potential candidates who might step into the void, but none that would bring her name ID, fundraising capability and star power.
Less noticed than the Abrams announcement but still significant was the decision by Iowa Rep. Cindy Axne to pass on a race against Republican Sen. Joni Ernst. After former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack said "no" to the race, the Senate Democrats' campaign arm actively recruited Axne, who was elected to a Des Moines-area seat in 2018, to run. With Axne out, it's unclear who Democrats will turn to as they seek to upend Ernst.
Those two individual decisions could well have a similar effect: Shrinking the 2020 landscape for Senate Democrats.
Everyone agrees that GOP-held seats in Colorado and Arizona, and Democratic Sen. Doug Jones in Alabama, will be major targets for both sides. And most expect Republican Maine Sen. Susan Collins to have the toughest re-election race of her life. But for Democrats to win back the Senate, they need more seats -- and a larger margin for error. (To win the majority, Democrats would need to net three seats if a Democratic candidate beats President Donald Trump in 2020 and four seats if Trump wins re-election.)
That's where Iowa and Georgia come in. Both are states where Democrats have performed well in recent elections. Abrams nearly won in 2018, and the state's demographics are trending toward Democrats. In Iowa, House Democrats picked up two seats in 2018. Out of the next tier of potential Democratic pickups, they are right at the top alongside North Carolina. The open GOP seats in Kansas and Tennessee and the possibility of beating Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in Kentucky seem more remote -- but not impossible.
If Democrats can't make Georgia and Iowa -- or at least one of the two -- very competitive, it will require the party to run the table of the most competitive races in the country. Which is doable, but far from ideal for a party that sees 2020 as the chance to take full control of Congress back from Republicans.
The Point: Yes, it's still early. Very early. But Senate Democrats wanted Abrams and Axne and got neither. And they have no obvious fallback plan in either state.
-- Chris | | "My roommate was in the meeting. I've not been able to speak with her about it yet."
-- Sen. Mitch McConnell, referring to his wife Treasury Secretary Elaine Chao about today's White House meeting on infrastructure with Democratic leadership. | | | WATCH: THE NO-SHOW BRIEFING! | |  | How Donald Trump killed the daily press briefing | | The decades-long tradition of the daily White House press briefing is now a thing of the past. Why? Because Trump wants it that way.
We want you to subscribe to The Point on YouTube! | | Brad Parscale, call your office
New KFile reporting on Trump's latest Fed pick Stephen Moore
Mike Grunwald on how Joe Biden's deal-making could hurt him in 2020
James Holzhauer to "Jeopardy!" death: Not today
About the Night King
How one woman singlehandedly recorded three decades of TV history | | | A great new track from a great musician: Lucy Dacus' "My Mother and I." | |
#FACTSFIRST IN THE MUELLER REPORT | | President Donald Trump and his associates made 77 lies and misleading statements to the American public and authorities, as detailed in the Mueller Report, according to CNN's FactsFirst team.
The team cataloged each one, noting: "In all, Mueller's effort may be the first comprehensive finding by a federal investigator to document the lies and false assertions to the American public told by the Trump campaign and administration." | |
LAUREN'S CAMPAIGN TRAIL LATEST | | Kamala Harris: Hosted a roundtable with teachers and activists in South Carolina ahead of tomorrow's planned statewide teachers strike. It is expected to be one of the largest protests in the state's history.
Elizabeth Warren: Also plans to hold a phone call with the striking South Carolina teachers tomorrow.
Joe Biden: Is putting his newly raised millions to use and dominating the digital ad spending among 2020 contenders.
Andrew Yang: Wants to give an Iowans $1,000 over the next 12 months to demonstrate his universal basic income plan.
Pete Buttigieg: Is the latest 2020 contender to release 10 years of tax returns. | | Here's the latest on one of today's most important stories: - What's happening? Opposition leader Juan Guaido urged Venezuelans to take to the streets on Tuesday as he announced that the final phase of the operation to topple President Nicolas Maduro is underway.
- What's led to this? Guaido declared himself interim president in January and was backed by the US and dozens of other nations. Since then, Venezuela -- which is mired in a deep political and humanitarian crisis -- has had two men claiming to be president.
- What comes next? It's unclear right now. Guaido says the military -- seen as the key to whether Maduro remains in power -- is deserting the president. The government, however, says the situation is under control and that the military is behind Maduro.
- Has President Trump responded? Yes, he tweeted this afternoon, "I am monitoring the situation in Venezuela very closely. The United States stands with the People of Venezuela and their Freedom!"
Read more on this developing situation on CNN.com. | |  | | From Brenna: "On the campaign trail, Sen. Bernie Sanders gestures while discussing the need to fix the US insurance industry. Did you know The Point newsletter now has a 2020 edition? Every Sunday night, we'll tell you what to watch for in the week to come. Tell your friends to subscribe!" | | | | | | |
No comments:
Post a Comment