Paul Maslin is a veteran Democratic pollster who spent Wednesday traveling home from Alabama and luxuriating in Doug Jones' upset victory in the state's special U.S. Senate race.
During a layover at Chicago's O'Hare airport, he took a victory lap and offered a few thoughts between flights.
On President Donald Trump: "If he can't figure out a way to turn this around, we're going to win the Senate, we're going to kill 'em in the House, and we're going to set up the second half of his presidency where he's going to be neutered."
On Democrats going forward: "The lesson is we need to keep being aggressive, fighting him everywhere. There's no reason we can't win Tennessee, there's no reason we can't win Arizona and Nevada. There's no reason we can't win congressional seats all over the place."
That said, Maslin suggested Democrats have to deliver if they win the House in 2018 and look to taking back the White House in 2020.
On the challenge ahead: "We're going to have the onus on us, which means we can't simply be naysayers. We've lost credibility in the Midwest, in places like Pennsylvania. The Democratic Party is seen as being out of touch, elitist, without any good ideas on economic or pocketbook issues. We're going to have to give people a sense we've turned the page and we're not the same old, same old."
On the bottom line:
"Rallying people against this president, this Congress and the people who are in control of the government remains a tremendous advantage and will continue to be for the next year."
