{"id":2254812,"date":"2024-05-29T07:44:02","date_gmt":"2024-05-29T11:44:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/democrats-plot-to-hold-senate-by-defying-bidens-swing-state-weakness\/"},"modified":"2024-05-29T07:48:40","modified_gmt":"2024-05-29T11:48:40","slug":"democrats-plot-to-hold-senate-by-defying-bidens-swing-state-weakness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/democrats-plot-to-hold-senate-by-defying-bidens-swing-state-weakness\/","title":{"rendered":"Democrats strategize to maintain Senate control despite Biden&#8217;s challenges in swing states"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fdemocrats-plot-to-hold-senate-by-defying-bidens-swing-state-weakness%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2254812&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Senate\u200b Democrats are confident in retaining control amid concerns about Biden&#8217;s impact on \u2064the election. Vulnerable incumbents\u200b are cautious, with Biden&#8217;s low approval \u2062ratings raising alarm among party\u2063 members. However, some senators express optimism, highlighting candidates&#8217; \u200dstrengths over potential drawbacks. The race remains dynamic, \u200cwith strategies evolving to secure Senate seats independently of the presidential outcome.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/senate\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Senate<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/democrats\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Democrats<\/a> are brushing off concerns that President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/joe-biden\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Joe Biden<\/a> will be a drag on the ticket in November even as the party\u2019s most vulnerable incumbents distance themselves from the president.<\/p>\n<p>Biden\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/exclusive-republicans-push-back-as-biden-admin-remains-confident-despite-low-immigration-approval-rating\/\" title=\"EXCLUSIVE: Republicans Push Back As Biden Admin Remains Confident Despite Low Immigration Approval Rating\">low approval numbers<\/a>, driven in part by his age and handling of the economy, have set off alarm bells from party operatives warning that former President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\">Donald Trump<\/a> could win if the president remains on the Democratic ticket. But those fears have implications down ballot, too, as the party attempts to keep its tenuous control of the Senate.<\/p>\n<p>Ordinarily, the party in the White House hopes to benefit from the coattails of their incumbent president. Yet this cycle, they are facing the prospect of having to outperform Biden as polls show him consistently behind in nearly every swing state.<\/p>\n<p>Senate Democrats have generally avoided speculating on whether Biden will drag down vulnerable incumbents, instead framing control of the Senate as a matter of candidate quality.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have superior incumbents and candidates running against highly, highly flawed Republican candidates,\u201d Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI), who chairs the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said. \u201cSo, I\u2019m confident we\u2019re going to win.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Others disputed the idea that Biden is a weak candidate altogether in conversations with the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEvery special election and the midterm elections, polling has predicted disaster for Democrats. And the results have ended up being far better than polling would have suggested,\u201d Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE), a key Biden ally on the Hill, said.<\/p>\n<p>In this cycle, Senate candidates appear to be running ahead of Biden in key states. In Nevada, for example, where Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) is up for reelection, she is tied with her expected Republican rival in the latest <em>New York Times<\/em>-Siena poll even as Trump leads Biden there by 13 points.<\/p>\n<p>Rosen\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/pro-haley-super-pac-pans-desantis-debate-performance-as-forgettable\/\" title=\"Haley-supporting super PAC criticizes DeSantis debate as 'unmemorable'\">home state colleague<\/a>, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), cast doubt on the polling and predicted that Biden would win Nevada, too. In 2020, the president defeated Trump in the Silver State by 2 points.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLet me just speak for Nevada. Nevada\u2019s races are always close,\u201d Cortez Masto, who narrowly won reelection in 2022, said. \u201cBut we\u2019ve seen <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trafalgar-poll-joe-bidens-approval-at-38-7-percent\/\" title=\"Trafalgar Poll: Joe Biden\u2019s Approval at 38.7 Percent\">similar polling numbers<\/a>, and Democrats always pull it out, including the Democratic president.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure><figcaption>Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) talks after a policy luncheon on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, March 6, 2024, as Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), right, listens in Washington. (AP Photo\/Mariam Zuhaib)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Nonetheless, Nevada is part of a <a href=\"https:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/538\/senate-democrats-polling-biden\/story?id=110507277\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>larger trend<\/a>. Biden trails the party\u2019s Senate incumbents from Arizona to Wisconsin.<\/p>\n<p>Vulnerable Democrats, none more starkly than Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) in deep-red Montana, have sought opportunities to break with Biden. Last week, he released a memo on his \u201clong-standing track record standing up to President Biden\u201d that Republicans quickly seized on as an election-year pivot.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, those in purple states have created daylight with Biden on select wedge issues, including the war in Gaza. Emboldened by progressive members of his party, Biden has increasingly pushed back against Israel\u2019s casualty-heavy military operations, while in-cycle senators, including Rosen and Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA), have maintained their support for the Jewish state.<\/p>\n<p>Republicans have attempted to tie these and other Senate Democrats to Biden as the crux of their election pitch, calling them \u201crubberstamps\u201d in Congress for his agenda. However, Casey, who faces a serious challenge from the Trump-backed Republican David McCormick, argued that incumbents can set themselves up well for reelection if they \u201ceffectively\u201d communicate their record to voters.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think that when you\u2019re running for public office, you\u2019ve got to make the case to voters about what you\u2019ve done and what you hope to do if you\u2019re, in the case of an incumbent, what you hope to do if you\u2019re reelected,\u201d Casey said. \u201cAnd as long as you do that and you do it effectively and you communicate with voters, you should be in good shape.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Fellow Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) took that argument a step further. He conceded there is \u201csome correlation\u201d between what happens at the top of the ticket and the Senate races but predicted the two are \u201cgoing to be able to move independently.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s no synergy, for example, in Pennsylvania for McCormick and Trump,\u201d he said, citing their past icy relationship.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere might be synergy in other races, or you could have a train wreck like Lake,\u201d he added, referring to the Trump loyalist running for Senate in Arizona. \u201cThere might be synergy, but she\u2019s a hot mess.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Kari Lake campaign, which currently trails in the polls, has previously voiced confidence that Trump\u2019s current lead in Arizona will help buoy the entire Republican ticket. <\/p>\n<figure><figcaption>Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) shakes hands with President Joe Biden at the Philadelphia International Airport in Philadelphia, Saturday, June 17, 2023, after an aerial tour of the Interstate 95 highway collapse. (AP Photo\/Manuel Balce Ceneta)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>During the midterm elections, Fetterman defeated television host and Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz without distancing himself from Biden. He defiantly embraced progressive causes and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2022\/04\/21\/politics\/john-fetterman-pennsylvania-democrats-senate\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>told CNN<\/a> in an interview, \u201cWe\u2019re going to embrace Joe Biden.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Biden\u2019s team remains adamant that by running against Trump\u2019s record, and emphasizing his own, Democrats will maintain control of the White House in November.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJoe Biden created 15 million jobs, capped the price of insulin at $35, and made healthcare more affordable than ever. That record of historic results for the American people is what the President and Democrats across the country will be running on in November, while Republicans are stuck defending Trump\u2019s promises to cut taxes for the billionaires at the expense of the middle class and ban abortion nationwide,\u201d Mia Ehrenberg, a Biden campaign\u00a0spokeswoman told the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em> in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>Other Biden allies expect the polls to tighten as Election Day approaches, in particular after Labor Day.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of folks trying to dampen enthusiasm for Democrats by pumping out all kinds of polls,\u201d Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), who is retiring at the end of the year, said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo, at this point, we\u2019re gonna work hard no matter what. We\u2019re gonna work hard no matter what. And so, the polls right now mean nothing to me,\u201d Stabenow continued.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWell, they said I was struggling in the polls too I\u2019m here,\u201d Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA), one of two senators who flipped Georgia\u2019s Senate seats during the 2021 runoff elections, ousting Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler, chimed in.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think we\u2019re six months out. The polls will be all over the place between now and then,\u201d Warnock continued. \u201cI am feeling good because we have a good story to tell about the work that\u2019s been done, and people will feel it.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure><figcaption>Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) leaves the chamber as the Senate prepares to advance the $95 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan passed by the House at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, April 23, 2024. (AP Photo\/J. Scott Applewhite)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Of the Senate Democrats up for reelection, Tester is perhaps the most vulnerable. He is running in a state that Trump won by 16 points in 2020. However, he is part of a long line of vulnerable swing state lawmakers on both sides of the aisle who have distanced themselves from party leaders.<\/p>\n<p>Former Virginia Rep. Barbara Comstock, a Republican, rebuked Trump for sharing sensitive information with Russian diplomats and for firing former FBI Director James Comey when he was president.<\/p>\n<p>After Democrats retook the House during the 2018 midterm elections, former Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner became the first Republican to call for a vote on House bills to reopen the government, which didn\u2019t include Trump\u2019s wish for funding for a border wall, in January 2019. Comstock and Gardner eventually lost their swing races.<\/p>\n<p>Trump poses liabilities for Republicans as well, especially in swing House races where the Democrats have attempted to paint the incumbents as \u201cMAGA extremists,\u201d and his election to a second term is far from guaranteed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think he\u2019s on a good trajectory, President Trump, but there\u2019s a long way to go, and a lot could happen,\u201d Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), a top Trump ally on Capitol Hill, said.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, the 2023 off-year elections offered some warning that nationalizing a political race hasn\u2019t always paid off for Republicans. Gov. Andy Beshear (D-KY) won his reelection bid despite GOP attempts to tie him to Biden.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/a><\/strong> <\/p>\n<p>However, even lawmakers who have clashed with Trump in the past have found comfort in the current polling. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think Donald Trump\u2019s gonna win,\u201d Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT), who voted to convict Trump in his second impeachment, said. \u201cI think he\u2019s in a very strong position. I mean, I know a lot of people don\u2019t have a lot of trust in the polls, but that\u2019s best we got, best snapshot we got right now. It\u2019s looking like Biden is toast.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Senate Democrats remain undeterred by worries of President Biden&#8217;s impact on the upcoming November elections. Despite concerns, vulnerable incumbents are strategically distancing themselves from the president. Biden&#8217;s age and economic stance contribute to his low approval ratings, prompting caution among party officials<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3173,"featured_media":2254813,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/AP24103786777136.jpg.optimal.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2254812","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/AP24103786777136.jpg.optimal.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2254812","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3173"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2254812"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2254812\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2254813"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2254812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2254812"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2254812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}