Democrats will keep the Senate, Chuck Schumer predicted just nine days out from the midterm elections.
“I know all the pundits are saying Republicans will take the Senate. Democrats are going to prove the pundits wrong on Election Day when we keep the Senate,” the No. 3 Democrat in the Senate said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday.
Schumer, who represents New York, argued that polls showing GOP candidates ahead in key swing states didn’t take into account the Democrats’ ground game in mobilizing voters, which he argued was better than that of the Republicans.
“You can add two to three points … for each of those races, just about every one of those races. So if it’s 44-43, we’re probably ahead,” Schumer claimed.
Schumer also argued that Democratic candidates’ more attractive personalities will give them an edge in the final days of the campaign, when, he said, voters will focus on the individual candidates rather than national issues.
“When the two candidates are compared, almost inevitably we do better,” Schumer claimed.
Those two factors, in addition to voters’ preference for Democrats on economic issues — Schumer cited the minimum wage, gender pay laws, and outsourcing jobs — will allow Democrats to hold the upper chamber, Schumer argued.
Control of the Senate matters, Schumer added, because of the control it will have over who is appointed to the Supreme Court.
With a GOP-influenced Supreme Court deciding on campaign finance cases, he said, “we’ll be subject to these few people just dominating the elections for decades to come. The Supreme Court on voting rights makes a huge difference. The Supreme Court on women’s issues makes a huge difference.”
