If we turn out, we win. But we have lots of work to do on that front.
This just happened:
Notable from House GOP press conf.: Not one of 5 GOPers mentioned ObamaCare in opening statements -- first time in as long as I can remember
— @russellberman
Republicans continue to back away from Obamacare as an issue. ACA repeal has gone from the GOP's
raison d'être this cycle, to hot potato. Problem for the GOP is, there isn't much they can fall back on.
They've got that whole "Reid is the devil, so vote for us so we can get rid of him," and people are like, "who"? "What"? They can get their hate on for Nancy Pelosi because she's a woman. Reid is a soft-spoken elderly white Mormon. Good luck turning him into Satan.
And then there are the issues, as the latest WaPo poll shows. Which party do respondents trust to cope with the nation's "main problems"? Democrats, 40-34. What about handling the economy? Democrats, 41-38. Health care? Democrats, 43-35. Immigration? Democrats, 40-34. Helping the middle class? Democrats, by a whopping 52-32. Women issues? Democrats by an even more whopping 55-25. Abortion? Democrats, 43-35. Gay marriage? Democrats, 45-31. Minimum wage? Democrats, 49-33. Climate change? Democrats, 47-29(!).
Republicans win on a generic gun control question, 44-39 (not asked about things like background checks, that poll off the charts), the budget deficit 44-35, and cutting waste from government 45-38. If Republicans want to make the 2014 election about those things, good luck to them. But on every other issue of note, Democrats lead, and oftentimes lead big.
However, that same poll also shows Democrats with major electoral disadvantages. For example, Democrats lead 40-34 on immigration, but filter for only registered voters, and it's suddenly 37-37. Dems may lead 52-32 on the middle class questions among all adults, but among registered voters, it is ... 52-33. Okay, so it's not all doom and gloom.
Winning on the issues is the first part of winning November, but we also have to win the turnout battle. If we vote, we win. And right now, we've still got a great deal of work to do on that front.