GOP pollster: Republican brand ‘is not doing well right now’

A former pollster for President Trump’s 2016 campaign predicted a grim outlook for the Republican brand in the 2018 midterm elections, saying that the GOP needs “to do better” as a party.

Veteran GOP pollster John McLaughlin said an interview with radio host John Catsimatidis that approval of Trump himself has gone up.

But the problem for congressional Republicans is that the president isn’t on the ballot in November, he said.

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“We’re making progress because the president is picking us up, and the president is leading the change in the country and fighting against the swamp,” McLaughlin said. “But he’s not on the ballot in November – Congress is. And the Republicans in Congress are up.”

“And granted there’s a lot of popular incumbents who will do well for the Republicans on their own. But the generic brand is not doing well right now, and we need to do better,” he continued.

Asked by Catsmatidis if there’s a so-called “blue wave” of Democratic victories coming in the midterms, McLaughlin said: “I don’t think so.”

“But what’s necessary to stop any notion of a blue wave is basically for the Republicans in the House and the Senate to actually contrast themselves with the Democrats,” he said, adding that Republicans should seek to align themselves closely with Trump and cast Democrats as obstructionists in the upcoming elections.

Democrats are hoping to seize on Trump’s low approval ratings in the 2018 election cycle in an effort to win a majority in the House. They will need to pick up at least 24 seats in the midterms to take back control of the chamber.