Mary Katharine Ham: Republicans ‘Blowing a Chance To Gain a Bunch of Seats’ in the Senate

‘I do think the greatest allies Republicans have are Democratic overreach and the economy’

EXCERPT:

TAPPER: Yes. You are somebody who has issues with Obamacare being on — a subscriber to Obamacare, your premiums went up. Are you concerned —

HAM: There are a lot of bad things that happened before.

TAPPER: Right. Are you concerned because I know you don’t like what happened with Obamacare. Are you concerned that the president’s behavior or whatever it is, is going to hurt your ability — I assume you support Republicans — 

(CROSSTALK)

HAM: Yes. I’m not sure it’s the behavior that’s the problem. It’s like the system’s inability to address the problem in this sort of nuanced way, which is the problem we have with Obamacare, and a bunch of broken promises and sort of blanket promises that did not come true and was the case during — trying to tweak it in any way possible.

I’m not sure it’s the top issue on people’s minds. But I will say this. I do think the greatest allies Republicans have are Democratic overreach and the economy.

But people aren’t able to think about those things when Trump is tweeting a ton. And the number was like 58 to 27 percent, people want — voters want Congress to be more of a check on the president. That’s trouble for him, especially in the House.

That being said, it cannot be overstate how friendly the Senate map is for Republicans. They are blowing a chance to gain a bunch of seats but they may very well keep what they have and maybe even gain a few and vulnerable Democrat spots.

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