Punchbowl News: Democrats Know They Have a Tough Midterm Ahead

Democrats, in private, have recognized they are in a challenging “political environment” only 168 days before the midterms and acknowledged that “it would be difficult to envision a trickier” path before November, according to Punchbowl News.

“In private, Democrats acknowledge that it would be difficult to envision a trickier – or more perilous – political environment 168 days before a midterm election than now,” Punchbowl New’s Tuesday morning newsletter stated.

The newsletter added, “There’s a reason that 30-plus House Democrats are retiring or have already left office this cycle, compared to only half as many Republicans.”

In fact, not only have there been over 30 Democrats either leaving the House and retiring or running for a different office but due to redistricting, there has been a slew of member-on-member primaries across the country. This occurs as the incumbent’s hometowns are moved into a neighboring district, members what to run in a safe district, or in some cases, there are fewer congressional districts in the state.

Punchbowl explained that there had been multiple crises that have been hurting families across the country:

• There is currently a baby formula shortage, which has impacted families across the country as they are struggling to feed their children.  President Joe Biden invoked the Defense Production Act to try and help boost supplies.
• Gas prices have continuously reached a record-high and are a whole dollar more per gallon than a year ago. Punchbowl acknowledged that “Congress can or will do to address the crisis. Not anything that could lower prices at the pump by Election Day anyway.”
• The stock market has also recently taken a massive dip which erased roughly all of the gains Biden has taken credit for since taking office. Additionally, while the housing market has remained strong, it will be tested by the rising interest rates.
• The coronavirus “is still rippling through the country,” as Biden campaigned on getting the pandemic under control. There also appears to be a rise in monkeypox.
• The migrant problem at the southern border, which Punchbowl considers to be “Biden’s biggest political liability since taking office,” that he has “failed to effectively lay out an immigration policy.”

Punchbowl also noted that the president’s legislative agenda has stalled from last year’s reconciliation package to another round of coronavirus relief to attempting to codify Roe v. Wade.

The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) spokesman, Mike Berg, noted that “Democrats are right to acknowledge they are in a difficult political environment. They’ve done a horrible job running the government, and voters have noticed.”

This also has occurred as the Republicans are gain momentum in the polls, with 47 percent of registered voters saying they want to see the Republican party in control of Congress as only 43 percent said that they would want the Democrat party in control, in a recent Quinnipiac poll.

Jacob Bliss is a reporter for Breitbart News. Write to him at jbliss@breitbart.com or follow him on Twitter @JacobMBliss.