Why some Democrats aren't endorsing Harris

Facing one of the worst maps in years. Democrats in the Senate will likely need to run the table in November in order to simply keep the Senate at 5050. And that includes in red states like Ohio and Montana. So what does having Kamala Harris at the top of the ticket mean for their chances? And while several Democrats in swing Senate states races took the stage at the DNC last week, others stayed away, including Ohio Sherrod Brown, Montana's Jon Tester and purple state Democrat Jacky Rosen of Nevada. And on the final day of the DNC, tester even told reporters in Montana that he did not want to endorse a candidate for president at all. Now in Chicago, I caught up with two top Senate Democrats, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and the head of the Senate Democratic campaign arm, Gary Peters, to talk about what Harris means for their most difficult races. What does Kamala Harris do for red states like in Ohio and Montana? Look, the bottom line is we'll have a great Democratic program. She knows what average people think about. Look at the brilliance of putting forward this $25,000, break for first time homebuyers, 25 to 40 year olds who are doing pretty well. But one of their biggest problems is they still rent. And while they can afford the monthly mortgage payment, they can't afford the down payment. This is manna from heaven. Sherrod Brown will campaign on that. Jon Tester hasn't even endorsed her yet. He doesn't. He's going to talk about issues that they both care about. You don't think it's a you don't think it's a you don't think it's a mistake that he hasn't endorsed her? I leave it to Jon Tester. He's going to win. He knows Montana better than anybody else. Jon Tester has not endorsed Kamala Harris. Is that a mistake? He knows, how to run his race. He he knows what's best for Montana. You know, I'm going to let him make decisions on all the stuff that he does, whether it's endorsements or on issues. he's there representing the people of Montana. So, I mean, you have at least three of your Democratic incumbents, vulnerable members. We're not here. I mean, you've tester, Brown, Jacky Rosen. Is that a good idea to keep their distance from the top of the ticket? I don't wouldn't take it as that. They're just believe that they should be in their state campaigning. But do you think like someone like Jacky Rosen should be campaigning with Kamala Harris in Nevada? We'll see what you know. I expect she will. But I suppose you wouldn't want Kamala Harris stumping with Jon Tester and with Sherrod Brown. That's going to be up to them to decide whether or not the how they want to the campaign. But again, you know, in some of the tougher states, Montana, Ohio, these, with both Jon Tester and and Sherrod Brown, they've already proven that they can win in a tough state. and they are authentic. People know them. they're good at retail politics. and they're running against flawed Republicans. I mean, that's the interesting calculation that these candidates who are running in difficult races always have to make how much distance to keep from the top of the ticket, how much to align themselves with the top of the ticket. We saw several candidates stump for Harris at the DNC. People from Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Michigan even, but not so much. Ohio and even Nevada is interesting. What do you think of Harris? What she means for the Democrats chances to keep the Senate already? There is such a difficult map, but that she helped. Does she hurt? Yeah, it's an absolutely difficult map. And they've known this for several years. I mean, when you talk to Democrats, they're very excited about the general enthusiasm, right? Because that lack of enthusiasm within the base, they were already thinking, that's not going to help turn out voters. There could be voters who sit at home. That is less of a worry now. But I think to your point, I mean, there's always going to be your most vulnerable senators, your most vulnerable House Democrats, who just are going to keep their distance. And we hear all the time from leaders saying they have to run the race the way that they're going to run the race, whether they endorse or not, that's up to them. But it is interesting to me to see Congresswoman Slotkin, Tammy Baldwin, Senator Tammy Baldwin, they did not stump with Biden. They were purposely far away whenever they went to their states. Not only have they stumped with Harris already, but they were on the convention stage. So that, to me is a shift where some of those still vulnerable seats, those members and senators representing those vulnerable districts and states are now embracing Harris a little bit more. Yeah. And split ticket voting, though, doesn't really happen anymore. In the Trump era, only one time out of 69 races has a candidate from an opposing party won a race that was the president presidential candidate from that opposite party carried. That's a challenge for people like Tester and Brown in Ohio and in Montana. Absolutely. I mean, we can be almost certain that Trump is going to win both of those states, which means that Jon Tester cannot win without the support of a lot of Trump voters crossing over to vote for him. The candidate I was most surprised to see on stage giving a speech at the DNC was calling already. He's running in Texas. Another red state that Trump is almost certainly going to win. Although, of course, Democrats always talk about how they'd like to put it in play. but that tells me a couple things. Number one, that he gets so many donations from being up there on the national stage and saying, I'm running against Ted Cruz, that it's worth whatever he takes from being associated with the top of the ticket. And number two, that it's a different political calculation in a state like Texas, where he is hoping that there's enough of an effect on the base, there's enough of a mobilization effect from the energy behind this new ticket. that that could be enough to put him in contention, particularly against a candidate like a Ted Cruz. But, you know, politics 101, if you're Sherrod Brown, if you're a Jon Tester, you have to run your own race because you're not going to be able to win without those crossover voters. I would just add that the Kamala Harris campaign could care less whether it gets a endorsement from John Tester and know I don't mean that as a dismissal. I mean, you know, I spoke to somebody yesterday about this, like they just want people to win. Yeah. So if that which is also different than Trump, Trump wants loyalty. Yeah. The Democrats have a completely different view. They don't care. Yeah. The most important thing from their perspective is go out there and win and give her if she wins as well, give her majorities in Congress. And what? Well, one question is, what will give them majorities in Congress, the issue of abortion. We know that on abortion, referendums are on a number of ballots in some key states. That includes Montana, that includes Florida to reach state for Democrats to pick up Maryland as a state the Democrats are trying to defend. They're also trying to defend Arizona and the all with abortion access issues on the ballot in November. So I asked the Democratic leaders about that and about just the larger challenges. It facing a daunting Mac map to keep the majority. You have three seats in states that Donald Trump picked up. You have incumbents in purple states, you have very difficult pickup opportunities. So how are you going to hang on to control of the Senate? Well, we are going to hang on. and it's you're correct. It's a very difficult map. But as you recall, I did this job last cycle, which was very tough in a midterm. Everybody thought we had no chance to hold. This is worse. Is worse than last cycle. Well, yeah, there's but it's. I'm just saying it was very tough. And we beat expectations last cycle. We're going to beat expectations. again this cycle the fact that in Montana there's abortion on the ballot. Is that going to be decisive. That will determine John Tester's ultimate outcome here? Well, I think it will be a significant factor. I think ultimately it's because of John Tester's character and his proven track record standing up for the people of Montana. But there's no question reproductive freedom is a very powerful issue. Talk about and having to codify Roe v Wade and a Democratic majority. But, you know, you're not gonna get even if you managed to keep the Senate, you're not going to get 60 votes in the Senate. Does that mean that you may have to change the filibuster to do that? Look, the bottom line is we looked at the filibuster once on voting rights, and we're committed to doing that on other areas of the filibuster, putting abortion rights in other areas of the filibuster. we're going to talk as a caucus and see where to go. But let me say how potent an issue is in abortion. Jackie Rosen in the cook poll. It's overwhelming. it's a little too optimistic. Was up 18 points. What was the number one reason in my judgment, she's been advertising about abortion since June. And the Republicans are getting clobbered. They have no answer. And to be against IVF. Give me a break. I have a grandchild who was born through IVF. Republicans will say that they're not against IVF, but nevertheless, the point being abortion? Could that be enough to save the Democratic majority? Yes and no. I mean, Democrats have seen some success with abortion referendums, you know, in non election cycles and all of that stuff. But I think that one of the things that Democrats are doing relatively successfully is making it about abortion. Yes. But also painting the Republican Party writ large as sort of anti freedom, taking away your rights, you know, so every, every Republican, every every race now becomes about whether you're going to give more power to Republicans. We're just going to strip away more and more rights and abortion is the linchpin of that argument. But it gets much larger. All right. But we shall see. It's going to be a very difficult road for the Democrats, no question.