{"id":130099,"date":"2022-11-04T11:26:53","date_gmt":"2022-11-04T11:26:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/?p=130099"},"modified":"2022-11-04T11:26:53","modified_gmt":"2022-11-04T11:26:53","slug":"democrats-aim-to-hold-the-line-against-heavy-u-s-midterm-election-losses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/markets\/democrats-aim-to-hold-the-line-against-heavy-u-s-midterm-election-losses\/","title":{"rendered":"Democrats aim to hold the line against heavy U.S. midterm election losses"},"content":{"rendered":"
LEON, Va. (Reuters) – If Abigail Spanberger, a moderate congresswoman from a liberal-leaning Virginia district outside Washington loses her re-election bid on Tuesday, it could be the harbinger of a midterm bloodbath for the Democratic Party.<\/p> That was why Spanberger was at a winery this week imploring volunteers to hit the phones. Her once-comfortable lead had shrunk to nothing.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have a toss-up race,\u201d she said. \u201cThere is work to be done.\u201d<\/p>\n Like Spanberger, Democratic candidates across the country are intensifying their efforts to stave off what increasingly looks like a Republican wave that could result in the loss of more than 20 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and perhaps control of both chambers of Congress.<\/p>\n The grim outlook has some Democrats second-guessing their party\u2019s midterm messaging, which has emphasized the threat Republicans pose to abortion rights and democracy in a year when voters have said they are most concerned about the economy and violent crime.<\/p>\n Polls continue to show voters frustrated over high consumer prices and blaming the party in power from President Joe Biden on down. A Reuters\/Ipsos poll conducted Oct. 31-Nov. 1 showed 69% of Americans believe the country is on the wrong track, compared with just 18% who said it was headed in the right direction.<\/p>\n A few months ago, Spanberger was among the Democratic incumbents who appeared relatively safe. But a flood of Republican PAC money, a barrage of TV ads blaming Democrats for \u201cstaggering inflation\u201d and \u201cletting violent criminals back on the streets,\u201d and voter antipathy have helped their Republican opponents close the gap.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re seeing a lot of races that were thought of as unwinnable become winnable,\u201d said Doug Heye, once a top aide to former Republican House leader Eric Cantor, who represented the same district as Spanberger.<\/p>\n At campaign events, Spanberger details a laundry list of legislative victories under Biden: massive infrastructure and climate bills, and measures to lower prescription drug costs and boost domestic semiconductor production.<\/p>\n A former CIA officer, Spanberger has criticized her party\u2019s progressive wing and has attempted to appeal to independent voters. She was first elected as part of a Democratic wave in 2018 when Donald Trump was president.<\/p>\n \u201cI have a voting record, a proud record of accomplishment,\u201d Spanberger told the crowd at the winery on Wednesday.<\/p>\n But Rodell Mollineau, a Democratic consultant and former Senate leadership aide, said it is difficult for voters irate about energy and food prices to view those actions as making a difference in their day-to-day lives.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople don\u2019t want to hear about their accomplishments,\u201d Mollineau said. \u201cThey\u2019re not feeling them.\u201d<\/p>\n Democrats like Spanberger have also turned to more basic \u201cus versus them\u201d arguments: warning about the threats Republicans may pose to abortion rights, election integrity and programs such as Medicare and Social Security.<\/p>\n Biden has prioritized the theme of preserving democracy, giving his second speech on that subject on Wednesday.<\/p>\n In an interview, Spanberger rejected the idea that she should focus solely on economic issues, despite the wealth of data that ranks it the top concern of voters.<\/p>\n \u201cI talk about everything because everything is important to the people I represent,\u201d she said, citing abortion and the environment as examples. \u201cI don\u2019t walk into a room and say \u2018I know the economy is your biggest challenge.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Tracy Sefl, a Democratic strategist in Chicago, said Democrats need to do better at tying voters\u2019 concerns about inflation to the party\u2019s agenda, even when discussing abortion.<\/p>\n \u201cDemocrats have allowed \u2018economic issues\u2019 to be too narrowly defined, repeating concerns about gas prices and groceries without also centering family-level economic issues like child care and education costs,\u201d Sefl said.<\/p>\n To Republican Heye, the reason Spanberger and other once-safe Democrats are struggling in the final days of the campaign is simple.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you\u2019re talking about everything, then you\u2019re not focusing on anything,\u201d Heye said.<\/p>\n Spanberger\u2019s Republican opponent, Yesli Vega, seems almost tailor-made for the current political moment. A former police officer, she has made crime a central theme in her campaign.<\/p>\n And as the daughter of Salvadoran immigrants, Vega has looked to win over the district\u2019s significant Hispanic population on kitchen-table and education issues.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know about you, but I find myself having to go to three different grocery stores to make that dollar stretch,\u201d she told supporters near Culpeper, Virginia, on Tuesday.<\/p>\n Vega was joined at the rally by Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, a Republican who won election last year in a state where Biden beat Trump by 10 percentage points. Youngkin decried COVID-related school lockdowns and promoted parental rights in education policy during his campaign.<\/p>\n Vega has followed suit, telling the crowd she would never \u201cco-parent with the federal government.\u201d<\/p>\n Spanberger has gone after Vega on abortion, running TV ads that note Vega\u2019s anti-abortion position and asserting Vega favors a national ban on abortion, something Vega has denied.<\/p>\n In turn, the Congressional Leadership Fund, a PAC headed by Republican House leader Kevin McCarthy, has run ads alleging Spanberger\u2019s support for COVID-19 stimulus programs meant she had supported sending \u201cchecks to prisoners.\u201d<\/p>\n Spanberger may yet keep her seat if Republicans take the House with more limited gains. Her newly redrawn district has a slight Democratic tilt.<\/p>\n But if she loses it may not be because of anything she said or did, Mollineau said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe American people are really pissed off in general,\u201d he said, \u201cand are looking to punish those in charge.\u201d<\/p>\nRUNNING ON HER RECORD<\/h2>\n
GROCERY BILLS<\/h2>\n