Heilemann: Democrats Are in a Much Better Position Now Than They Were Two Weeks Ago After Kavanaugh

EXCERPT:

HEILEMANN: "And instead of focusing on issues that will bring traditional Republicans back home to the Republican Party, he’s focusing on these wedge issues which are exactly the issues that make suburban Republicans, that make Republicans in swing districts nervous about Donald Trump and the future of the party under Donald Trump. So it’s almost a mirror image of what he did in 2016. And given the dynamics in this race, it’s in some ways dumber than if he had done the same thing in 2016. It’s just all of the problems that he has and the party has because of him are being magnified by this strategy that he's running. He has no other choice because he feels as if he doesn’t do this, the base might stay home. But it’s a terrible bind he’s in right now. You don't excite the base, they stay home. He’s already alienated a lot of suburban voters. But everything he does, every day right now, is leading in the direction of 'Me, me, me, focus on me.' And the more the focus is on him and these issues, the worse he is. Democrats are in a much better position now than they were two weeks ago after the Kavanaugh thing when the focus was all on them."