Sunday, November 8th, 2020
Collins blames "hot tempers" for "bizarre witch hunt" after midterms
Chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) Stephen Collins made the rounds on the Sunday talk show circuit in damage control after congressional Democrats began lambasting each other for the party's poor showing in the presidential midterms.
On
Meet the Press, Collins agreed with host Chuck Todd on the "bizarre witch hunt" the party seemed to be going on after the midterms.
"Historically, the president's party loses seats in a midterm election," Collins said, "We frankly were expecting to lose the House of Representatives after our majority was whittled down in 2018, and knew that this would be a very tough Senate cycle for us...it could have conceivably been much worse."
The Democrats lost five seats while failing to pick up any, prompting criticism from some quarters. Collins had an answer for that.
"You know how many seats were were defending in states that voted for Henry Shallick two years ago? Eight. You want to know Shallick's average margin of victory in those states?
Twenty-five percent. The one seat Republicans were defending in a state the president won? Oregon, that the president won with less than 500 votes because of a third-party candidate."
Appearing on
Face the Nation, Collins said that Senator Andrew Howard (D-WA) was "misplaced" in blaming the party's showing on White House Chief of Staff Will Bailey and the inability of the White House to pass more substantial legislation.
"Senator Howard knows full well that the biggest roadblock in the past two years to passing the kinds of major legislation on issues like voting rights, further education reform, and now an economic stimulus to everyday Americans instead of a corporate handout, has been the Republican Senate under [Majority] Leader [Cody] Riley," Collins told host Margaret Brennan, "I think it's just his frustration with the results being misplaced, frankly."
Collins also said that blame was unfairly being lumped onto House Majority Super PAC chair Lauren Romano, amidst the loss of the House.
"I don't know what members of Congress are talking about when they say that she is responsible for dumping 'California cash' into races in Mississippi and West Virginia," Collins said. "We never targeted any seats in those states, so I frankly don't know what this person was talking about."
Similarly, Collins said, he was baffled by the congressman's idea that Democrats had been "talking about socialism".
"We have about two or three members/members-elect that identify as social democrats," Collins said, "The only people who were talking about 'socialism' outside of those very, very Democratic districts were Republican smear artists."
Despite reports that Howard would lead an effort to topple Senate Minority Leader Jimmy Fitzsimmons (D-MA), Howard's office put out a statement today saying that the senator would not challenge either Fitzsimmons or Minority Whip Sarah O'Brien (D-VT) for their positions, seeking only to "continue to faithfully represent the people of Washington to the best of my ability as senator and ranking member of the Senate Rules Committee." Reportedly, a major factor behind Senator Howard's decision not to seek a leadership position is that his cousin Eve is expected to become the second highest-ranking Democrat in the House after House Majority Leader Noah Gellman (D-VA)'s defeat.
Collins, whose wife Connie Tatum is currently White House Director of Legislative Affairs, has led the DNC since 2014. He is rumored to be on the shortlist for a Cabinet appointment either in the event of a second Seaborn term, or should certain cabinet positions (frequently Commerce, Health and Human Services or Transportation) become vacant.