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Washington – Former President Barack Obama headlined a fundraiser for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Wednesday night to discuss the stakes of the upcoming midterm election.
The event featured a conversation between Obama and Delaware Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester, vice chair of the DSCC, about Democrats’ efforts to flip the Senate.
“I think he is just such a voice for our country, and of both realism and practical optimism, and I think we need that right now,” Blunt Rochester told CBS News. “And I think he also lays the foundation for the significance of this election.”
Senate Democrats have become increasingly optimistic about their prospects this fall after several races shifted toward the party in recent weeks, including in deep-red states like Texas and Ohio that are considered toss-ups, according to CBS News’ battleground tracker.
“We do not want to be overconfident, but what we’re seeing in state after state after state is that people are sick of Trump, they’re sick of the Republican Senate going along with them, and they see the clear divisions we have drawn between what we stand for and what they stand for,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told CBS News last month. “That has put us on the edge of victory.”
Republicans currently hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate. Democrats would need to pick up four seats to gain control of the upper chamber.
Meanwhile, Republicans have argued they still have a path to hold on to the Senate.
“Right now, there’s a lot of noise, there always is in the political atmosphere — some of it’s created by our opponents,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a South Dakota Republican, told reporters before the body went on recess. “But if we can stay focused, talk about the future and the two paths over the course of the next several weeks, based on our record of accomplishment, things we got done, things we still need to do, we’ve got a great argument.”
One key target for both parties is Michigan. Democrats are trying to hold the seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Gary Peters while Republicans see it as a prime pickup opportunity. An exclusive CBS Detroit poll, conducted by Mitchell Research and Communications, shows Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed with a narrow advantage over GOP challenger and former Rep. Mike Rogers.
Obama is expected to campaign with El-Sayed and other Democratic candidates in the Wolverine State later this month. A source familiar with the former president’s thinking said his strategy this fall is “driven by where he can move the needle with Democrats and persuadable voters.”
The former president has also taped two dozen ads for Senate and gubernatorial candidates around the country. Last month, he participated in the second of two fundraisers with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, where he pressed Democrats to do more on the issue of artificial intelligence.
“Certainly if I were running for president next year, this would be one of my central agendas, and I would have a very clear plan, and I would talk about this, and I would say, ‘Here’s our plan for safety, here’s our plan for making sure our kids are not corrupted by this,'” Obama said. “I would be thinking about the economic impacts in very concrete ways and understanding: What does it mean if there’s going to be job displacement? Where is that going to hit? How are we going to respond?”
Jeffries told CBS News he has remained in contact with Obama and former Vice President Kamala Harris and expects both to be engaged through Election Day. The minority leader, who is poised to become the first Black House speaker if Democrats win control of the lower chamber, predicted that House Democrats would “take back the majority” this fall.
“It’s an all-hands-on-deck effort,” Jeffries said.
