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David Plouffe, political strategist and manager of Barack Obama’s historic 2008 presidential campaign, attended The New Yorker Festival’s Washington roundtable to take a final look at the midterm election map. With Donald Trump’s approval rating near historic lows and fuel prices squeezing rural voters, Democrats find themselves competitive in Senate races in Iowa, Nebraska, Texas and even Kansas, a state that hasn’t sent a Democrat to the Senate since the 1830s. Plouffe compared this midterm election to wave elections in 1994 and 2006 and argued that Republican spending, including by Musk, would do little to quell voter anger over the cost of living. He also looks ahead to 2028 and encourages future candidates to look into those who have performed well in the mid-cycle. “Between now and ’28, Democrats have a chance to make adjustments. Republicans don’t,” Plouff said. “It would be an unprecedented political gift if we found a way to capture it.”
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