Page 893 - Midterm News Today

With a slogan for tax cuts or tax reform. youve got to have a slogan. youve got to go on the road, maybe do some oval office speeches, you have to have a messaging game plan, the economy is doing well but if we pass this bill, the economy is only going to get better. >> jon: when he blames congress for not getting rid of obamacare, this is a republican led congress, he is kind of piling on his own team. >> democrats like to see that. every midterm is a referendum on the presidency, look at recen...

Midterm. >> youre right, miguel. i would say that the myth or image that he was the ultimate new york city wheeler-dealer, could get everything done, has been shattered. he cant get anything done. he cant even get things through his own republican congress. i think thats led to some disillusionment among people who thought he would be the ultimate negotiator. >> isnt there room for him to get something done on infrastructure if he reaches out to democrats? theres probably some common ground ther...

The frustration that comes with it and the republicans overplayed their hand then. are the democrats doing the same now? >> well, i lived through this in 98 as you know. and we ran the mid terms on a basic theme that the people want progress not partisanship. and so you have to be very careful. >> dana: and you won seats, right? you picked up seats in 1998. >> we did. >> it was almost unprecedented to win seats in that midterm because the republicans went too far. the question is this happening ...

Generic. the general issue of making america great if i may take that word. >> going into the 2018 midterm, somebody thats close to you for a long time. nancy pelosi, i believe that was yo your maryland state chair back in day. >> that was a high mark of my political career. >> fair enough. >> her image and unpopularity was among the reasons why some democrats believe that they lost the georgia special election, that was high profile at the time. somehow democrats are saying, shes just too much,...

His ex. i wonder to what extent the clinton well -- they beat her, is the base not sated yet with enough damage to hillary clinton, or is she still a potent message? >> she is still a potent message because republicans for decades have hated the clintons. after the race, when there was photos of her showing up in normal places, she was still being mocked on social media. so it does work, but it doesnt change the fact that dude, you won. let it go and get over it. youre president now, put on your...

Scope of russian election meddling at the time. and i think there was real concern about president obama that any action that he took could itself play out inside the election and affect election results. and, so, there was a genuine concern about that. whats really important now, i think, is to look ahead. we have a midterm coming up here in 2018. whats really more important is we focus on preventing russian influence in that election and the one after that. >> president is looking ahead. hes g...

Jobs. so, in general -- >> but -- >> president trump has reason to celebrate. >> but riddle me this, peter. you have this strong economy, strong dow. when was the last time a president had such strong economic news yet was so unpopular? i mean, normally the two go hand in hand. >> well, this president was elected under a cloud. we all acknowledge that because he didnt win an electoral majority. george w. bush, he had a decent economy. they came out of the box a little slow, but then he had a dec...

Major poll. does this resonate or is the don still teflon when it comes to that assessment. >> i never thought he was teflon. the only time you see the 62 number or something like it is the person he was running against in 2016, hillary clinton. in many ways, were seeing donald trump standing next to himself as opposed to standing next to someone the public had substantial doubts about. when you look at the weakness among college educated white voters, for instance, hes much lower than a republi...

Down. the tension here is historically republican constituencies vote more in the midterm, older whites than democratic constituents. those democratic landing constituents are extremely negative on trump. whether that changes the historical turnout patterns will help determine who is holding the house in 2018. >> lets move from polls to policies. senator david purdue and tom cotton proposed this immigration overhaul that would slash legal immigration over the next decade by 50% and the white hou...

Flawed. where do you see the divide right now between republicans and the president? >> weve had signing statements for over a decade. president bush with republican congress would issue signing statements. they dont have the force of law. theyre basically standing up for the rights of the executive branch against the legislative branch. neither branch like to give up power. this particular legislation, i think, restored some power to the legislative branch. and i think the president is defendin...