Op-Ed: A midterm elections threat assessment — high and getting higher
On the eve of this November’s midterms, the U.S. Senate has become a potential flash point in the fight for congressional control. In my opinion, the Senate is a pivotal battleground, especially because of the potential of a “blue wave,” which Democrats are anticipating. And this midterm will feature the Democrats controlling the House and the Democrats being the official Opposition. But there is another way this year’s senate race could be of import, it could become the defining election (or a defining election) in the country. In fact, it may be because of these key Senate races that have the potential to define our politics and our nation in more ways than we can imagine, I’d like to go into a little of detail on what exactly it is that makes this election so interesting and important.
I have been watching this race for about a year. I’ve been reading editorials and news reports since the spring of 2012 but I began to get more interested in this race when a former White House communications official told me that Hillary Clinton was actively looking for a running mate with deep ties in the Senate — which she would have been able to work with. And when I began to follow some of the more interesting Senators on the list, it started to look like both Clinton and Obama could find a running mate with deep ties in the Senate but which would work in a unique way to help them connect with voters. In June, I published an article titled “The New Dem-Senate Race: A Clinton-Obama-Corker Coalition” which explained that my research found there were only 3 Senators (and one possible Supreme Court Justice) whose campaign issues align with the progressive (Democrat) agenda and that Democrats only had to look at the Senate schedule and find at least one or more Senators with progressive voting records in order to win a seat. In fact, I cited an article from a website called “Inside Elections” as I said we would find at least six Senators who fit this description, and that this was a “stunning” finding considering how many candidates in the presidential election cycle didn