Winning Over Your Own

Winning Over Your Own

by digby

I know it’s old hat to bring this up, but midterms are nearly always base elections. But it certainly doesn’t hurt to remind the Democrats of that:

With Election Day just 32 days away, Democrats face an uphill battle to maintain their majority hold on Congress. But even as polls show serious GOP momentum, there are some small signs of hope that Democrats might still be able to avoid massive losses.

For one thing, as The Upshot has previously reported, voters have an equally poor opinion of Democrats and Republicans, which makes the outcome of this year’s midterms less easy to predict than many polls suggest. The second potential bright spot for Democrats: A new Public Policy Polling analysis finds that most undecided voters in Senate and gubernatorial races around the country are Democrats. According to PPP, an average 17 percent of likely Democratic voters are still on the fence about who to support in November.

That means if Democrats can win over their own base, the party will be far more competitive than expected.

Still, that’s easier said than done. The races that involve the highest quotient of Democrats staying on the fence are also in states where voters are either seriously unhappy with President Obama’s job performance or have soured on the Democratic incumbent in the race.

Obviously, what these people need is a stern talking to.

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