Oct

15

Maine - The Suffolk poll is wonderfully detailed. They break down their registered votere sample into R, D, I and then add Green and Libertarian. They also distinguish between Unenrolled (which they include with Independent) and Undecided. R-28.6,I/U-33,R-28.6,G-1.2,L-.6,U-2.8. Eric Brakey, the Republican, has no chance, given the bias of the Democrats in favor of King, the "Independent" (sic).

Vermont - No one has bothered to take a poll. Socialism rules! Sanders is anointed again.

Rhode Island - The "conservative" news had a recent flurry of articles about how this might be a competitive race. It is not. The most recent UNH poll sample has the electorate R-28, I-24, D-48. Whitehouse in the usual landslide.

Connecticut - Quinnipiac has given up on telling us what its samples contain; but their estimate for the race is not going to be so far off as to give the Republicans an upset. When Gravis did a sample earlier this year, it was R-26, I/O-34, D-40. Murphy is re-elected easily.

New Jersey - The news may say that this race is close; but it is not. Fairleigh Dickinson's poll sample has the state: R-36,I-8,D-56 among Likely Voters; yet it has the race as a statistical "dead heat" between the incumbent Democrat Robert Menendez and the Republican Hugin. More than 1 in 5 Democrats (22%) and nearly half the Independents (42%) declare themselves undecided. The problem for the Republicans is that it is still New Jersey. The statistical "dead heat" is Menendez-43, Hugin-37; and the odds are beyond hope that Hugin can somehow win 2 out of every 3 of the votes from the 20% of the electorate that has not made up its mind. Menendez will win because New Jerkers, especially women, seem to loath the Donald. Prediction: Menendez +4/5.

Pennsylvania - Franklin & Marshall's sample is R-40, I/O-8, D-52. Casey will be re-elected easily.

Maryland - This state makes California look purple. The Goucher Likely Voter poll sample is R-27, I/O-12, D-61. Cardin will win, even if he is in a coma on election day.

Delaware - Gravis sample: Conservative-32, Moderate-45, Liberal-23. On its face that might offer the Republicans a chance; but the term "Moderate" is now code for Democrat-leaning Independent. The sample shows the party affiliation as R-32,I/O-21,D-47. Their Likely Voter poll was taken in July and had Carper +8. The most recent poll - from the University of Delaware - offers no sample and has Carper +37. Carper should win easily.

Virginia - The University of Mary Washington poll has R-29,I/O-35,D-31 and C-37,M-31,L-32. Kaine, the Democrat, is not an attractive candidate; but he has the advantage of running in a 3-way race. The Libertarian candidate is likely to get 5% of the vote. Prediction: Kaine +8.

West Virginia - This race is really a Republican primary in drag. Manchin, the Democrat, was clever enough to not commit political suicide by voting against Kavanaugh; and his personal popularity is distinctly higher than Morrisey's, his Republican opponent. Gravis's likely voter sample has the state R-35,I/O-22,D-43. Trump has been to West Virginia for several rallies, but he has been careful not to criticize Manchin harshly, except at the one held before the Senate vote on Kavanaugh. The Republican party in WV is very much as the Republican party in Alabama was in 2017 - fractured by internal scandals. Prediction: Manchin +6. Commentary: Manchin will become the White House favorite for "bi-partisanship". He is likely to campaign for Trump in 2020.

Ohio - Suffolk's poll sample: R-34.8,I/U/O-23.8,D-38.4. Sherrod Brown, the Democrat incumbent, polls consistently with a double-digit lead. That will be the final election result.

Indiana - None of the polls - Ipsos/Reuters, Fox News, NBC News/Marist - deigns to disclose their sample. The RCP Average has the Democrat incumbent Donnelly +2.5 over the Republican challenger Braun. They show the Libertarian candidate Brenton getting 7% of the final vote. In the absence of any usable data, I am relying on the judgment of the brains of the outfit - Susan, who was born and raised in Evansville and whose mother still lives there. (Margaret Mead: "Everyone knows somebody from Evansville, Indiana"). She thinks Donnelly's vote against Kavanaugh was fatal. I agree. I also think the Libertarian vote will be half the RCP prediction; and Braun will be get those votes. Prediction: Braun +2/3.

Florida - Mason-Dixon poll sample: R-37,I/O-25,D-38. RCP's current average is Nelson, the incumbent Democrat, +2.4. The governor's race is equally tight. Prediction: Genuine Toss-Up.

Tennessee - Gravis poll sample: R-40,I/O-29,D-31 and C-39,M-42,L-19. Gravis had Blackburn, the Republican candidate, at +4 in August; CNN, with their usual bias, had Bredesen, the Democrat, at +5 a month later. The NY Times/Sienna poll from this week (as always, no sample data) had Blackburn +14. That is likely an exaggeration. TN is a Republican state; but Republican states never reward their candidates with landslides. Prediction: Blackburn +7/8.

Wisconsin - Marquette University's Law School poll sample data is wonderfully precise. They not only include the historical data of their previous samples. The sample for the current poll: R-47,I/O-8,D-44; when the pollsters exclude "leaners" it is R-33,I/O-36,D-30. Wisconsin's electorate is true to its good government heritage; and I do not offer that as a snarky comment. Their voters are genuinely independent-minded and have no difficulty in splitting their tickets - i.e. voting for candidates from both parties for the offices on the ballot in a single election. That is not good news for the Republican Senate candidate - Vukmir. The voters are likely to reward the Republicans by re-electing Scott Walker as governor and Brad Schimel as Attorney General and then by "fair" by re-electing Democrat Senator Tammy Baldwin. Prediction: Baldwin +7/8.

Mississippi - At least the GOP has one state where RCP and 538 concede that their incumbent hold a "safe" seat. Roger Wicker will be re-elected. Cindy Hyde-Smith will also win and take the seat Thad Cochran held before his retirement. There have been polls taken in MS but only for the "jungle" primary. No one is bothering to talk to the voters for the general election. The Democrats have Vermont; the Republicans have Mississippi.

Minnesota - Klobuchar is an absolute lock; but the race to fill the comedian's seat could be interesting. The Star Tribune/MPR poll sample is R-31,I/O-32,D-37; and they have Smith, the DFL (Democrat Farm Labor) candidate at 44, Housley, the Republican at 37, Other - 4 and Undecided - 15. That is less than half the margin of the latest poll from NBC/Marist, which offers no sample data at all. What makes this interesting to me is that Smith's lead is almost entirely from "Da Yute". There has been a flurry of new registrations among voters 18-30; and they hate Housley - perhaps because the old people like her. Housley is definitely a longshot; but the Michael Moore effect could easily take hold, especially if Minnesota has one of its lovely blizzards. And, MN is very much like its Southern neighbor, WI - a good government, ticket-splitting state. If I did trade, the Housley win would be the black swan option I would buy. Prediction: Smith +3

Montana - Remington Research offers its sample data: R-42,Non-Partisan-30,D-28 and C-47,M-38,L-15. RCP has the incumbent Democrat Tester at +3. It is the contest of Marine haircuts; both Tester and his opponent Matt Rosendale sport buzzcuts. Trump's popularity is likely to be enough to defeat Tester, especially since he was foolish enough to vote against Kavanaugh. Prediction: Rosendale +2/3

Washington, California, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska. These states will all return the incumbents who are evenly split 3-3.

Overall Forecast: Republicans gain 3 to 5 seats. They are nearly certain to win Indiana, Missouri and Montana without losing Arizona or Nevada. They have a good chances to win Florida and a longshot to win the open seat in Minnesota. If you include Manchin's conversion to being the President's new and permanent bi-partisan best friend, the election could be enough of a gain for McConnell to decide that the 60-vote filibuster rule has to go so that Tax Cut - 2 and Build the Wall funding can be passed, either during the lame duck session or in the next Congress (if the Republicans keep their majority).

That will be the question for the next 2 weeks when I plan to review each of the 41 House races that RCP lists as either a Toss-Up or a Republican incumbent in a Lean Democrat seat.

One last snark for the weekend: Using the Generic Ballot for the country as a means of predicting the results in the House is the polling equivalent of the Hillary Clinton campaign thinking that total votes is the way you keep score in a Presidential campaign. It is truly Garbage Data In = Nonsense Out.


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