Thread: Pelosi declares victory before Election Day House minority leader's spiking the ball

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Pelosi declares victory before Election Day

The House minority leader's spiking of the ball — even if her supporters…

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“When we do win, when we open the new Congress, we will honor the vows of our founders, e pluribus unum," House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said. | Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Images

elections

Pelosi declares victory before Election Day

The House minority leader's spiking of the ball — even if her supporters wouldn't call it that — could be risky.

By JOHN BRESNAHAN and CAITLIN OPRYSKO
10/31/2018 08:02 AM EDT
Updated 10/31/2018 09:45 AM EDT

Nancy Pelosi is declaring victory in the battle for the House.
In public and private, the House minority leader — who wants to make history herself by retaking the speaker’s gavel she lost eight years ago — has said Democrats will pick up more than enough seats to win back the House and end the Republicans’ lock on Congress.

Appearing on “The Late Show” with Stephen Colbert on Tuesday, Pelosi (D-Calif.) said that “up until today, I would've said, 'If the election were held today, we would win.'”
"What now I'm saying is, 'We will win, we will win,'" Pelosi announced.
Colbert, recalling Democrats' belief that Hillary Clinton would win in 2016, warned Pelosi against overconfidence. But the longtime Democratic leader insisted that her party is primed to retake the House and perhaps score other victories in Senate and gubernatorial races across the country.

“We're just walking precincts, and if everyone votes, we'll have even a bigger victory," Pelosi said. "But Democrats will carry the House. If we have a bigger victory, the Senate, governorships. It's going to be a great night for America."
Pelosi had the same message during a conference call on Monday with fellow Democrats. Pelosi told Democrats during that call they would pick up at least 23 seats — and possibly far more — putting them in control of the House, according to several Democratic sources.

Pelosi's spiking of the ball — even if her supporters wouldn't call it that — could be risky. House Republicans have spent millions of dollars this cycle trying to tie Democratic candidates and incumbents to the California Democrat, the same tactic they used successfully in 2010. Pelosi has been extremely careful to avoid making herself an issue in battleground races, focusing all her attention on President Donald Trump and the Republican legislative record on health care and taxes. But with the House minority leader now saying Democrats will win a week before Election Day, Pelosi could give some life to those last-ditch GOP arguments.
Republicans also believe that they still have an outside chance of keeping control of the House, pointing to a backlash with GOP voters following the hugely controversial battle over Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court.
"While Nancy Pelosi is taking a tape measure to drapes, Republicans are putting the pedal to the metal and taking nothing for granted," said Matt Gorman, communications director for the National Republican Congressional Committee. "This is a volatile battlefield. We’re focused and ready for Tuesday."
Yet Pelosi — like other party leaders — has taken a hard look at the most recent polling and turnout data, and she feels confident about her call.
"Pelosi is a numbers person. She comes to this conclusion very carefully," said a source familiar with Pelosi's thinking. "There was concern about a large infusion of cash from Republicans, but we are keeping competitive."

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And Pelosi isn't the only senior House Democrat leaning hard into the likely outcome on Nov. 6. Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico repeatedly predicted Democratic victory during an appearance on "Fox News Sunday."
“I never said this would be easy, but we made a commitment to build a battlefield that leaves no stone unturned. And that’s why I am confident that we will win the majority in just nine short days," Luján said.
The DCCC has poured money into more than 80 House races and developed a voter turnout model Democrats believe should give them multiple paths to victory. Democratic candidates — fueled by anti-Trump fervor within the party base — have swamped their Republican counterparts on fundraising, and pro-Democratic super PACs are pouring tens of millions more into battleground fights.
Polls also show good news for House Democrats. A Los Angeles Times poll released Monday showed Democrats holding a 17-point lead in a generic ballot, a huge margin.
And POLITICO’s latest in-house midterm analysis predicts that control of the House leans in favor of Democrats.
Pelosi promised Colbert on Tuesday that “when we win,” Democrats will lower the temperature on political rhetoric.
“You will see evidence of that,” Pelosi said. “When we do win, when we open the new Congress, we will honor the vows of our founders, e pluribus unum.”

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/...QX1iPi5OK6VUMM

She can write a book..."What Happened Again"...the sequel.





Contributing authors, Pelosi, Schumer, Pocahontas, Waters, Feinstein, Spartacus