Democrats think they have a legitimate shot at regaining the majority in the Senate in the 2018 midterms, despite math and logic that dictate otherwise, Politico reports.
Perhaps it's a mirage or just wishful thinking, Republicans say.
Democrats "have a horrible map," Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn told Politico, laughing.
The math: Republicans are defending just 8 seats compared to 25 for Senate Democrats.
The logic: In addition to successfully defending all 25 of their seats, in itself a longshot, Dems point to chances to pick up seats in Nevada, Arizona and Texas.
Nevada, maybe; Arizona and Texas - not happening.
"It’s not the national numbers we ought to be looking at. It’s the state numbers," Cornyn, R-Texas, told Politico.
Larry Sabato last week predicted that Democrats will be in the minority in the Senate until at least 2024, if not longer.
"Democrats hold several seats in states where one might think, based on the presidential results, they have no business holding Senate seats in a polarized era. All of those dark-red state Democratic senators are up for re-election next year," Sabato wrote.
But that doesn't tamper the optimism of Democrats, who still lack a cohesive platform and a frontman for their party to take on President Donald Trump in 2020.
"The map feels a little different today than it did a few weeks ago,” said Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., told Politico. “We might be playing a little more offense. At the same time, we don’t have a lot of bandwidth for offense given the defense we have to play."
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