Senate Democrats are grappling with how to improve their messaging after failing to win back the majority for the third cycle in a row.
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Senate Democrats are grappling with how to improve their messaging after failing to win back the majority for the third cycle in a row. Democrats were the favorites to win the Senate heading into Nov.3, but instead find themselves soul searching about strategy as they face the possibility of another two years in the minority. Senators aren’t engaging in the high-profile spats and finger-pointing seen in the House following the loss of Democratic seats, but Democrats say there’s a recognition that their message is getting lost in translation, or drowned out by GOP attacks, among voters they should be winning. “I think the issue we’re grappling with more on the Senate side is, you know, how to get accomplishments and then make sure people understand ‘hey that’s a Democratic thing,’” said Sen. Sen Tim Kaine (D-Va.). Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) pointed to President-Elect Joe Biden’s platform as a blueprint for Democrats. “We should be paying attention to what Joe Biden did, Joe Biden’s message won in the kind of states we need to win in order to capture the Senate, so we should sort of be looking at the issues that Biden focused on… and think of that as a template,” Murphy said. Democrats entered the 2020 cycle defending 12 seats to Republicans’ 23. Though most of those were in deep-red states, a combination of historic levels of fundraising, an unpopular Republican incumbent at the top of the ticket, a once-in-a-lifetime health pandemic and, in retrospect, inaccurate polling made Democrats and political prognosticators believe they had multiple pathways to winning back the majority for the first time since 2014. Instead, in the four best states for Democrats, they won two, Arizona and Colorado, and lost two, Maine and North Carolina. And in the roughly eight additional races handicappers rated as toss ups or “lean R,” Democrats won none outright. The two Georgia races are going to runoffs on Jan.5, and Democrats would need to win both to get the Senate to a 50-50 split.
