NPR’s Tamara Keith and Amy Walter of the Cook Political Report with Amy Walter join Amna Nawaz to discuss the latest political news, including President Trump’s popularity going into the midterms as some Republicans start to distance themselves, the Michigan Senate race and Democrats still debating their November message. <\/p>\n
AMNA NAWAZ, PBS NEWSHOUR: Amy, Tam mentioned the word excited. You recently wrote about the enthusiasm gap for Republicans. Is the solution for that for candidates to get closer to or to distance themselves from the president? AMY WALTER, COOK POLITICAL REPORT WITH AMY WALTER: Right. So the enthusiasm gap is something, when you talk to Republican strategists, they say they are the most worried about going into the election, that Democrats are simply more interested in showing up to vote, and they have been voting in special elections and primaries at a higher rate than Republicans. But when you look past those numbers, look at what the Republican enthusiasm advantage really is — or disadvantage really is about, it’s that those who identify as MAGA — so some polls have now been segmenting out Republicans by those who say, yes, I’m a Republican because I identify with Trump and the MAGA movement, or I’m a Republican, but I don’t really identify as MAGA. Those who identify as MAGA, they’re really excited to vote. They believe Donald Trump is on the ballot, and they want to show that they are going to turn out to show him a sign of approval. The people who are not as excited to show up and vote are the non-MAGA Republicans. And it’s notable. You say, well, why aren’t they as excited? Because they are much more down on the economy. They feel that it’s in much poorer shape than those identified with MAGA. And they do see Trump as handling it much more poorly than those in MAGA. So what would help the most if you’re a Republican going into this election isn’t for Trump to be more front and center. It’s for the economy to get better.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n