Washington Examiner investigations editor Sarah Bedford said there may not be a sweeping “blue wave” in the midterm elections, but Democrats could still win key races.
“I think there’s a really good chance that we could be writing a headline about the blue wave being a lot smaller than some of the sweeping predictions we’ve been seeing in these last few weeks,” Bedford said Wednesday on The Hugh Hewitt Show. “It’s not totally clear that all the polls are tightening in Democrats’ direction and a lot of these races are within the margin of error, [it] could very easily tip the other way.”
In Maine, Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), the longest-serving Republican woman in the Senate, is running a strong campaign against her opponent Troy Jackson (D-ME). Former Sen. Joe Manchin (I-WV), a decadeslong Democrat who later became an independent, has campaigned alongside Collins, saying she is the “soul of America” and the Senate.
Bedford said Collins is part of a “going extinct breed of centrists.”
“You don’t see any interest in bipartisanship, you don’t see many candidates, if any, in the major races, selling bipartisanship on the campaign trail,” Bedford said. “And Manchin’s absolutely right, I mean, Susan Collins is one of the only Republicans, with the exception of perhaps Lisa Makowski left in the Senate who routinely crosses the aisle.”
In North Carolina, Republicans may lose a Senate seat to former Gov. Roy Cooper, the Democratic nominee. Bedford said Republican Senate nominee Michael Whatley wasn’t proving himself to be a “particularly capable” candidate. In contrast, Cooper has the advantage of name recognition, Bedford said.
“He has a brand that North Carolinians recognize that’s sort of allowed him to peel away from the national Democratic Party, and not get bogged down in some of the things that have been most controversial about Democrats,” Bedford said.
Outside of the Senate, Ohio’s governor race is being closely watched as a potential win for Democrats. Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has had a lot of “missed opportunities” during his campaign, Bedford said.
Most recently, Ramaswamy claimed responsibility for a controversial ad featuring his opponent Amy Acton’s mother. Amid the backlash, he reiterated his decision to run it, stating he would continue with an investment of $4 million.
RAMASWAMY POURS $4 MILLION INTO AD FEATURING AMY ACTON’S ESTRANGED MOTHER
Acton’s birth mother, Donna Arthur, called her daughter a liar in an attack ad. Acton later addressed the accusation on Facebook, describing her traumatic childhood where she was sexually abused by her stepfather, who was later indicted. Acton said she has not seen her mother since 1978.
“It probably would be best, if I was advising Vivek Ramaswamy, to just make a clean break, say, ‘You know what, I’ve got a lot of people around me, they come up with a lot of different ideas, not all of them are good, this was a bad one,” Bedford said.
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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
