PBS NEWSHOUR: NPR’s Tamara Keith and Amy Walter of the Cook Political Report with Amy Walter join Geoff Bennett to discuss the latest political news. <\/p>\n
GEOFF BENNETT, PBS NEWSHOUR: Yes, so big picture, what does each party need to do between now and November? And which side has the harder job? … AMY WALTER, COOK POLITICAL REPORT: So I match it up as it’s a really a clash between the environment and the structural realities. And the environment benefits Democrats. The president’s unpopular. People are upset about inflation. Enthusiasm is a real factor. Democratic voters are much more fired up to go to the polls. But the structural piece is real, and it’s a big challenge for Democrats. There just aren’t that many competitive seats held by Republicans in the House, enough for them to be able to win back — they only need three seats to win back the House. But on the Senate side, they’re going to they still have to win in these very dark red states. And what we’re seeing in the polling right now is that, even as the president is unpopular, the Democratic image remains also pretty toxic in those red states. And to me, that’s the challenge that Democrats really have. The environment, I don’t think, is going to get better for Republicans between now and the election. Gas prices are going to go up and down. But I think overall voters are pretty pessimistic about the way the president’s handling the economy, and that’s not going to change. What is going to be interesting as we move from primaries to the general election is, how much this debate within the Democratic Party about who are we, are we Democratic socialists, are we over here on the left, are we here in the center, will that continue to be an issue as we go into the fall campaigns? Republicans are absolutely going to paint every Democrat as far left. Is that going to work for candidates who don’t take those positions? We’re going to have to see.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n