Has the Democrats' expected midterm 'blue wave' already crested?

Hillary Clinton supporters.

There's a growing expectation in Washington that Democrats will win the House and maybe even the Senate in this year's midterm elections, but there's also a creeping concern among some Democrats that the expected "blue wave" may be less like a tsunami than hoped, and may even have peaked already. "Democrats sit at the edge of a landslide repudiation of President Trump and Republicans," Democratic pollster Stan Greenberg, Democracy Corps' Nancy Zdunkewicz, and Page Gardner at Women's Voices Women Vote Action Fund wrote in a letter published by HuffPost on Wednesday. But "their momentum has stalled in the last few months."

The memo was based on a survey for WVWVAF of more than 3,000 target voters in a dozen states with competitive Senate, House, or gubernatorial races. It had "straightforward" messaging advice for Democrats: "Take away the GOP's presumed strengths — the state of the macro-economy and the new Republican tax cut — and make the most of their weaknesses on key issues that go to the heart of the case against Republican Trumpism." Specifically, Democrats should refocus "on the economic and health-care battles that most engage anti-Trump voters," plus the GOP's fiscal recklessness and unequivocally stronger gun laws.

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.