Donna Brazile on midterms: ‘Democrats got to stop sleeping at the wheel’

Donna Brazile said during a discussion on Sunday about the upcoming midterms that Democrats need “to stop sleeping at the wheel” and waiting until “the last six weeks of the election,” adding that the party needs to help voters “where it matters.”

During an appearance on ABC’s “This Week,” Brazile, who served as interim chair of the Democratic National Committee, was asked whether Pennsylvania is one of the few likely blue states where Democrats are pinning their hopes in November for a Senate majority. She replied that Democrats also have their eyes on states including Ohio and North Carolina.

However, she emphasized the need “to protect the home front, Georgia, Arizona, Nevada, New Hampshire.”

Brazile also urged Democrats to “stop sleeping at the wheel” regarding the upcoming election.

"Democrats got to stop sleeping at the wheel…Democrats got to go back and create communities and remind people what the Democratic Party is doing to help them," @DonnaBrazile says. https://t.co/9Y696a37Oa pic.twitter.com/zM2kaLCPru

— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) May 15, 2022

“Stop sleeping at the wheel, stop waiting for the last six weeks of the election,” she said. “I know we’re about to spend a ton of money on television, that’s like throwing water in the wind.”

“Democrats got to go back and create communities and remind people what the Democratic Party is doing to help them,” she continued. “Help them at the gas station. Help them in the grocery store. Help them where it matters in their wallets, in their homes.”

Brazile also said if Democrats “continue to sleep at the wheel and just rely on Joe Biden and Kamala Harris,” then they should “forget it.”

However, Brazile said she has hope and “believes” because “I trust the woman who was sitting here just a few moments ago, and that’s my leader,” referring to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who appeared on the show earlier.

“She’s going to fight like hell,” she continued. “And she may not be able to turn the tide of history, which is always what we worry about, and you worry about if you had the White House, but you know what? You can still put up a doggone fight.”

The Senate is evenly split between Democrats and Republicans, and Democrats hold just a five-seat majority in the House.

The party is facing a difficult battle in November, given historic trends against a president’s party in the first midterms of his administration.

–Updated at 1:50 p.m.