On Friday, Fox News Contributor and former advisor to President Bill Clinton, Mark Penn joined Maria Bartiromo on “Mornings with Maria” for an interview on the midterm elections. Penn believes Republicans are getting closer to a massive wave election come November.
The segment opened with a clip of Joe Biden attempting to spin the recent inflation report, which showed prices up 8.2 percent vs a year ago. Despite Biden's terrible record on inflation, he vainly attempted to argue that Republicans would increase inflation if they were elected in the midterms.
When asked about the impact of inflation on how Americans will vote in just over three weeks, Penn stated, “Well we are coming out with a Harris poll this morning and inflation is the number one issue along with immigration and crime as two and three. 73 percent of people now expect that we are going into a recession and 55 percent blame President Biden and his policies for the inflation.”
“So he may be trying to deflect it, but he really needs to meet it head on, take responsibility, and give a plan of action because right now he is failing on that issue with the American public,” Penn explained in the interview, adding, “there is no doubt about it.”
“He keeps saying, on the one hand, there's inflation and as he says ‘there's just two percent inflation' or last month he said there was no inflation. His comments are just not credible on the issue.” the former Clinton advisor explained. “When we ask voters, what issue are Democrats talking about, they say January 6th. So when the public really wants to talk about inflation, immigration, and crime, Democrats are seen as not really even playing on the main issues and the president is not being credible about those issues or responding in a forceful way.”
A recent CNN poll showed that in competitive House districts, Republicans enjoyed 48 percent support while Democrats only had 43 percent support. That five percent difference is a good sign for the GOP which is looking to win a majority in the lower chamber of Congress.
AMERICAN PUBLIC OVERWHELMINGLY FAVORS TRUMP-LED GOP ON ISSUES THAT MATTER MOST TO VOTERS
“Look, I think that if you look back before Labor Day, I think Democrats had some momentum. I think since then, the momentum has clearly shifted. I think the biggest opportunity for Democrats would have been a change in inflation and we didn't see that. Quite the opposite I think,” Penn continued. “It is underscored as the most important issue. We are seeing in the polls, Democrats paying a price for the trillions of dollars that were spent coming out of the pandemic…I do think that you see the momentum here and the energy on the Republican side.”
When asked about whether or not Republican Senate candidates are making enough of a contrast between themselves and their Democrat opponents, Penn stated that they are increasingly doing better, but they will remain competitive.
“Some Republicans came out, who were vulnerable, didn't see them as qualified, and weren't as well known. You know that everybody on the planet is watching what's happening in Pennsylvania and in Georgia,” he explained, adding, “And in that, Warnock seems to have strengthened and Oz seems to have strengthened as well. No, these Senate races are not going to be a runaway.”
“There are hundreds of millions of dollars being spent in some of these races. People look a little bit more at the candidates,' Penn concluded. “I think at the end of the day, there will be some voters who just vote on these issues regardless of who the candidates are. And that's usually what happens if there's a wave. And we're getting closer to a wave election as these polls edge up.”
As Republican Senate candidates continue to battle for control of the fate of the upper chamber, the issues of inflation, crime, and the border facing Americans every day are starting to have a real impact on the polls as Republicans outline a more credible vision for America.
You Can Follow Sterling on Twitter Here
