The US Republican Party is set to lose its majority in both chambers of Congress to Democrats in the upcoming midterm congressional elections, a new poll shows.
The NBC News-Wall Street Journal survey released Sunday showed that Democrats were leading the GOP 52 percent to 40 percent on the generic ballot, a huge difference just six weeks away from the November 6 vote.
According to the poll, the 12-point gap gives more plausibility to current Democratic pledges of a “blue wave” scenario, where President Donald Trump’s party would shrink into a minority in both chambers.
That is not unexpected, however, as American voters have flipped control of at least one, if not both, houses of Congress in each of the last three off-year elections, indicating a strong need for change in the government’s direction.
“The results could not be clearer about making a change in direction from Trump's policies,” Bill McInturff, the Republican pollster who helped conduct the NBC/WSJ survey, explained. “Once again, Americans are hitting the brakes in a mid-term.”
Peter Hart, McInturff's Democratic counterpart on the survey held a similar view, saying Trump had made the presidency all about himself.
“Donald Trump's presidency has been about one thing: Donald Trump,” said Hart. “He makes himself bigger than the economy. In 2018, he has become Typhoid Trump, infecting most GOP candidates he supports.”
Trump has so far thrown his weight behind several Republican candidates and all of them have won their primaries. The president has even boasted of this on twitter.
“As long as I campaign and/or support Senate and House candidates (within reason), they will win!” he wrote in early August, after all five candidates he backed in various special elections won their primaries.
However, many of the 20-odd candidates that Trump has endorsed have lost the main battle to their Democratic rivals, showing that even the president’s backing is not enough to turn the tide.
Trump is still hopeful that he can make a “red wave” happen in the midterms even though he complained recently that his popularity has taken a hit due to the ongoing investigation into his alleged ties with Russia.
Democrats have been doing their best to hinder Trump’s major pledges such as his anti-immigration wall on the border with Mexico ahead of the vote. A “blue wave” will also allow them to weigh a possible impeachment.
Trump's predecessor, Barack Obama, has also began campaigning against Republicans, calling on all Democratic voters to come forward.