Politico: Senate Dems Focused on Limiting Losses

Senate Democrats have shifted their focus away from winning the Upper Chamber and are instead focused on minimizing their loses in the upcoming midterm elections, Politico reports.

In order to retake the Senate, Democrats would have to win each of the half-dozen races taking place this year, including two races against a Republican incumbent, and six with a Democrat in typically-conservative states like Missouri, Montana and West Virginia.

“I am not without hope in terms of these races, but I think we can acknowledge that it's a difficult map and that we've got to run the table,” said Priorities USA chair Guy Cecil.

Longtime Democratic strategist Rodell Mollineau added that “If we don't win back the majority, we should look at this as a four-year cycle and not a two-year cycle, positioning ourselves to win back the majority. Republicans have a lot of seats up and will have a lot to answer to come 2020.”

Indiana Democratic Sen. Joe Donnelly has become a particular target for Republicans, who have already spent $24 million on campaign ads, just shy of the Democrats’ $27 million.

According to the senator, one ad featuring Vice President Mike Pence shows that Republicans are “struggling,” saying a week ago that Pence “knows that I've been with the president 62 percent of the time, 77 percent on judges. When the president is right, I'm with him, and when he's not, it's my job to tell him here's a better idea.”

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