Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is not well known for being a pragmatist, but the progressive former presidential candidate may be the only Democrat managing expectations ahead of the November midterm elections.
Speaking to the hill Monday, Sanders struck back at leftists predicting a “blue wave,” handing both houses of Congress to Democrats, and cautioned progressive activists to prepare for the best but expect the worst.
“I know a lot of people talk about this blue wave and all that stuff. I don’t believe in it,” Sanders said. “I happen to believe on election night you’re going to find a very very close situation and maybe a handful of votes determining whether Democrats gain control of the House and that we have an entity able to stand up to Trump, or we don’t.”
Democrats need to flip at least 24 seats in the House to regain control. So far, they seem on track to gain at least that, perhaps more, but no race is for certain, particularly in the Trump era. In 2016, polls continually overestimated Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s chances at winning the White House, under-counting thousands of votes, particularly in “rust belt” swing states.
The Cook Political Report, which tracks how races are leaning, says control of the House will come down to 65 seats in contention, but that Democrats will need to make a clean sweep of open seats among suburban voters and in areas where Trump flipped seats from blue to red in 2016 to make gains. Democrats would only qualify as having set off a “blue wave” if they also took seats leaning “likely Republican,” and they’re not favored to win any of those.
