Ronna McDaniel, chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, cautioned members to gird for a stiff challenge from the Democrats in the midterm elections.
In a mostly sunny update on the state of the GOP under President Trump, McDaniel referenced the historical disadvantage the party in the White House often faces in midterm elections, and conceded that Democratic enthusiasm is high. Missing from McDaniel’s assessment of the political atmospherics was that the headwinds facing the party in November has anything especially to do with Trump personally.
“Democrats are energized,” McDaniel said Friday in Washington, D.C., to an annual winter meeting of elected RNC members. “They are awake.”
Trump’s low approval ratings and voter frustrations with his leadership in key battlegrounds is threatening the Republicans’ 24-seat House majority, and could depress gains in the Senate, where the GOP hopes to capitalize on a favorable map to pad its 51-49 majority in that chamber.
But in the wake of enactment of a historic tax reform legislation, a record $132 million raised in an off-year (2017) and Trump’s well-received State of the Union address on Tuesday, RNC members were optimistic about 2018. The winter meeting, which featured keynote speeches by Trump and Vice President Mike Pence, was uneventful — a sharp contrast from the controversies and internal debates that marked RNC meetings during President Barack Obama’s two terms.
“We’re going into this election in the best possible position,” RNC co-chairman Bob Paduchik said. “Our president is a fighter. I’m excited about the fight that lies ahead.”
