Democratic strategists and pollsters told Politico that any momentum they had has likely faded and that Democrats "peaked" too early as the midterm elections are just a few weeks away.
"I’m wishing the election were in August," Matt Bennett, a co-founder of the liberal group Third Way, told Politico. "I think we peaked a little early."
A progressive ad maker who worked on Bernie Sanders' 2016 campaign said it was clear Republicans had "seized the upper hand."
As Democrats face historical headwinds and high inflation, many have sought to make the midterms about abortion and the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
"I think we had three really good weeks in August that everybody patted themselves on the back," another Democratic strategist told Politico. "We were like, ‘Yeah, that should be enough to overcome two years of shitty everything.’"
He added that it wasn't looking great now and the best they can hope for is a 50-50 Senate. "But the House is long gone," he said.
Democratic pollster Molly Murphy said it doesn't feel good for the Democratic Party but added that they were going to do better that she thought they would.
"I don’t think anyone is that bullish that Democrats will have a great night, but the question should be how bad it could have been," Murphy told Politico.
Polls showed Republican J.D. Vance had a slight lead over Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan in the Ohio Senate race ahead of their debate in Youngstown on Monday.
Georgia gubernatorial candidates Stacey Abrams and incumbent Gov. Brian Kemp faced off in a debate on Monday as well that focused on Second Amendemnt issues, support for law enforcement and more.
Republican Herschel Walker and Democrat Sen. Raphael Warnock squared off in the Georgia Senate race debate on Friday. Some liberal media figures argued Warnock "underperformed" and that Walker did better than expected.
"Walker was bad but not as bad as he could have been; Warnock should have hit back way, way harder and was far too defensive throughout; the moderators were abysmal," MSNBC's Mehdi Hasan tweeted.
