The Republican Party has given a sure sign that they have given up on a major midterm fight, according to the D.C. insiders at Pod Save America, and are now scrambling to mitigate the potential damage.
In the latest edition of the Pod Save America podcast, the hosts, composed of former Obama administration officials and staffers, discussed the latest signs that the GOP is about to get wiped out by a blue wave in November. In particular, host and former White House speechwriter director Jon Favreau highlighted a new update from The Cook Political Report, which declared, “GOP on track to lose House majority as 15 race ratings shift toward Dems.”
“So, they say that the most likely outcome at this point is that Democrats pick up anywhere from five to 15 House seats,” Favreau explained. “Which even at the low end would mean no more Speaker Mike Johnson.”
Dan Pfeiffer, a former senior communications adviser to Barack Obama, explained that the dire odds for the House GOP have led to a dead giveaway that the party has fully thrown in the towel in terms of potentially retaining its majority in the chamber, and it all comes down to the districts where they have opted to spend their considerable funds.
“You can tell the Republicans know the House is gone because they’ve moved much of their money to districts that Trump won by 10 to 15 points,” Pfeiffer explained. “So, there’s three districts that Trump won by 15 points that they’re investing in right here in Texas. They’re doing all across the country. And the goal here is not to preserve the majority. It’s to limit the size of the Democratic majority to make it easier for them to potentially get it back in 2028 or 2030.”
Pfeiffer noted further that this sort of mitigation tactic is where the GOP’s sizeable fundraising lead over Democrats will come in handy.
“And this is where having basically unlimited money matters because it allows the Republicans to play in a whole bunch of races to shore them off the Democrats cannot,” he added. “We do not have that money, so Democrats have to be incredibly disciplined about how to do it. And it’s like, we want to win as many seats as possible. Want the largest majority possible, [which] allows us to do the most stuff. It also sends the most powerful message to the country, to the post-Trump Republican Party, to the CEOs, law firms, media companies who have kowtowed to Trump, that politics has changed in America.”