Page 644 - Midterm News Today

Will say he had nothing to do with it, he was not on the ticket. >> this is the single most important off-year election in my lifetime. and i really think its more than just about a specific issue, i think its about the character of the country. >> this is just one of many states where people are lining up outside because enthusiasm around this midterm is higher than weve ever seen before. >> the crowds have been huge. >> the turnout here has been extraordinary. >> a lot of things at stake today...

The tea party, but by april big, tax day 2009, just three months into the new administration, thats what they were calling them, tea party protesters. by the summer of 2009, members of congress were going home for the summer recess, and they were doing town halls. those town halls were all of the sudden filled with the raging anti-obamacare protesters. the whole political discussion in the country is about this resistance to the new administration. this movement that members of congress were fac...

Easier said than done. >> a crucial senate seat is up for grabs in arizona. gadi schwartz joins us live from tempe, arizona, on the campus of arizona state university. gadi, all indications are what has been a contentious race between martha mcsally and ch s kyrsten sinema will go down to the wire. is that a voting line? >> reporter: yeah, this turnout is looking a lot more like a presidential election than a midterm, especially when you consider that these are all young voters here. this is a l...

Obviously is a 77-year-old woman, but i think the people making the biggest difference here are voters under 30. and, you know, people have largely written off this beto race. yes, it was attracting a lot of media attention, but gop operatives were pretty confident that cruz was going to win this race by double digits. those operatives have quieted, though, in recent days as the early voting numbers have come in showing that the race actually could be poised to be the most diverse and young elec...

That all of my friends are voting today. >> reporter: are you optimistic for the country, or what are your feelings about the general direction of the country? >> i think as my generation and demographic grows up, i feel very positive that were head in the right direction right now. >>. >> reporter: thank you very much. go vote. thank you so much for taking time for us. they tell me a very good turnout at 6:00 a.m. its now midday. people are working. they expect it to pick up again later in the ...

If you want to come in and well talk to you a little bit about what you were voting for in this election and whats important to you? >> well, i believe were so divid divided, party to party, and i believe the governor race here and senate race are very important. its who you want in those races. i felt that i had to come out in the midterm and actually vote my heart. ill tell you its a republican vote and thats the way i went because i believe the republicans are doing the right thing right now ...

Who we are is on the ballot. [ applause ] >> what kind of politics we expect is on the ballot. h how we conduct ourselves in public life is on the ballot. how we treat other people is on the ballot. going out there, youre going to make sure that people vote to start making things better. when you do that, then the spirit of americas going to shine. >> biden wrapped a six-day, 13-city, eight-state midterm blitz. biden has traveled to 24 states to support 65 candidates. lets get a quick check on...

>> so then, 39% approval, 59% disapproval. what do you do with that for the president? for the day the president was elected, his approval was at 38%. the reality is in a midterm -- >> shouldnt it be slightly better after someone has been in office? wouldnt you hope that? >> sure, you would. i think theres a lot of records of accomplishment the president kz run on, but typically in a midterm cycle, the party out of power has the energy. what the president is doing is upping the enthusiasm on the...

Voting has been -- 31 million people have already cast their ballots early or by mail compared to last midterm, 19 million did so. >> we could have 100 million people vote in this election, probably more. 20 million more than voted in the last midterm, and that is just an extraordinary level of engagement and it is driven by the sense that we are, you know, at an absolute crossroads for the country. you have two mirror image coalitions that have utterly different visions of where the country sho...

A mid-term. the other point here too is in the elections like this and mid-terms like this, you see people breaking late towards the opposition party. thats what democrats are seizing on to and hoping thats an explain for what you have scene and what could happen. its important to make -- we have not done a great job of what a wave would mean. this is not 2010. you are not going to see 65 seats flip. its where the battles are being fought, particularly in the house. its a very, very different el...