Republican Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa told Fox News on Friday that Mitch McConnell’s glum warning about the GOP’s Senate prospects in the midterms were an effort “to wake people up.” The Kentucky Republican Senator had said on Thursday, “I think there’s probably a greater likelihood the House flips than the Senate. The Senate races are very different. They’re statewide. Candidate quality has a lot to do with the outcome.”
Many saw this as the minor leader trying to minimize expectations and weren’t pleased.
Mitch McConnell has been elected the highest ranking Republican in the nation. This means that he has to dramatically and immediately improve the performance of his basic and essential political skills. This isn’t rocket science.https://t.co/hQO2JLwJGp
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) August 19, 2022
Grassley however painted a brighter picture at the Iowa State Fair.
We are going to take back the majority because of the fact that the president’s approval rating is under 40 [percent] and all these problems with the economy, people’s pocket books are being robbed every day because of Biden inflation.
McConnell also came out in defense of McConnell. He described what his intentions might have been:
I think that the motive that McConnell would have would be that he wants to wake people up to the fact that this is an important election coming up and that you better be on your toes, both as a candidate, and people are supporting Republicans, or maybe we wouldn’t want to win control of the United States Senate.
My colleague Levon Satamian points out that other Republicans like Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) are also downplaying the party’s chances of retaking the Senate. Here is his analysis
The messaging here could mean two things — either they are saying this to encourage the GOP base to go out in droves and vote for GOP candidates — or they are already throwing in the towel and have given up due to some discouraging polls.
RealClearPolitics has eight Senate seats that are extremely close in their polls. This is a virtually dead heat. FiveThirtyEight’s polling meanwhile shows that “Democrats are A little more favorite to win the Senate” (italics theirs).
Grassley appeared to be putting a shade on candidates and voters! In his next comment:
He was not. [McConnell]Needs to be able to vote, get votes, help with contributions to candidates and, most importantly, to see the candidates work as hard as possible.
In Grassley’s mind, the number one issue for voters this fall is inflation, which not everyone agrees with:
It won’t only be what I hear at the state fair, but what I’ve heard in my county meetings that I hold regularly. Number one is inflation. It is sometimes called cost of living. It is the truth that President Trump isn’t enforcing the law at the frontier. This is just irritating. You can’t come to America without our permission. And we’ve had 2 million people just willy-nilly cross the border.
Grassley showed loyalty to McConnell by claiming that Mitch was just “trying to wake people up,” and he showed some needed optimism in reminding voters that inflation is real and that they need to vote out those responsible for it. McConnell shrinks in comparison, as his depressing outlook does nothing to fire up voters and certainly doesn’t “wake them up.” In fact, it could prove to have exactly the opposite result as citizens ask themselves, “what’s the point?” and stay home on election day. Bad move, Mitch.
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