Bloodbath? "Democrats are heading into the last month of the midterm elections campaign with ambitions going deeper and deeper into red territory, while Republicans are grim about their hopes of holding on to either chamber of Congress," reports The Washington Post. This is not a shock: The party in the White House tends to have a hard time holding onto congressional seats, and the president is not especially nationally liked at this moment.
Democratic voter turnout in the primaries was strong, and Democratic strategists are forecasting that midterm voter turnout will be similarly strong. Some projections for how this could all go, from the Post: "In the House, Republicans hold the slimmest of majorities, with 218 seats (and one independent who caucuses with them) to the Democrats' 214. The GOP is on defense in 16 seats rated toss-ups by the Cook Political Report, compared with six Democrats. On Sept. 25, Cook shifted 15 races toward the Democrats and projected them to take over the House….If Democrats win the popular vote by 10 points this year—their current average lead in polls—they would pick up a projected 33 seats, according to Mindset, a Washington advisory firm."
