As Donald Trump sags in the polls and his campaign conducts triage in states no one imagined would be in play, many Democrats are lobbying the Biden campaign to seize on what they see as an historic opportunity.
Lawmakers from Texas, Georgia, and Ohio are hardcore pressing Joe Biden and his aides to expand beyond the six battleground states they are focusing on: Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Arizona, North Carolina, and Florida.
The opportunity to move beyond those battlegrounds has been fueled by Trump's abysmal handling of the pandemic, his insistence on stoking racial divisions, and growing support for progressive causes like Black Lives Matter and racial justice. On top of that, Democratic candidates, particularly in the Senate, have been dusting their opponents in fundraising.
“Trump’s abominable presidency, especially in the context of the total failure to confront coronavirus, makes Texas very winnable,” Rep. Filemon Vela, told the New York Times. Fort Worth-area Democrat, Rep. Marc Veasey, adds, "Now is the best time we’ve had since Jimmy Carter to win Texas." Both men feel bullish about Democratic chances in Texas this cycle and have been bending the ears of Biden aides.
Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown is making a similar push in a state that many Democrats thought was lost after 2016. Brown, similar to others, thinks a landslide would not only give Biden a mandate but also the Democratic Senate majority he needs to push through a transformative agenda.
But Georgia, which polls show is also in offing, could offer the biggest trifecta: an Electoral College bump along with the potential for two Senate pick ups. “The Sun Belt expansion is what will drive the next 30 years of elections,” said Stacey Abrams, the state’s former House Democratic leader and a fervent advocate for Democrats going big in Peach state.
Georgia is also a state that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has been gunning for Biden to play in. But Schumer has been pushing the Biden campaign to invest in Maine and Iowa too. In fact, the campaign recently started lining up a senior team in Iowa, suggesting the Biden camp sees potential to pick up the state along with a key Senate seat currently held by GOP Sen. Joni Ernst.
“Joe Biden has told me that his goal is to help us in the Senate in every way he can, even if it’s a state not on his target list,” Schumer told the Times.
Meanwhile, recent Trump campaign ad buys in Ohio ($600,000) and Georgia ($1.3 million) signal a weakness in two states that few foresaw posing major issues for Republicans. The campaign also just put more than $150,000 into Michigan, according to the Times.
But veteran Democratic strategist Paul Begala made the observation that haunts every Democrat, from lawmakers to strategists to voters alike. This year, he said, it may be more important than ever to run up the scoreboard on the opposition.
"For the first time in American history there’s a legitimate concern that the incumbent president will not surrender power,” Begala noted.