Midterms showed voters lack the 'hatred' for Biden they have for Clintons, Obama, some critics say
Republicans underperformed almost everywhere but Florida and Upstate New York.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Republican and independent voters don't have the level of political hatred for President Biden that is shown for Barack Obama and the Clintons, Jesse Watters said on ":The Five" after the GOP's disappointing performance at Tuesday's midterm elections.
"There's just not the hatred for Joe Biden that there is for Barack Obama and for the Clintons. There's not a hate-Biden vote that's out there – when you go and Trump's on the ballot, there's that hate-Trump Democrat vote," he said. "People just don't feel the same passion against the guy."
Watters said Biden's rank unpopularity didn't translate into opposing votes the way it did when Hillary Clinton was on the ballot against then-political newcomer Donald Trump in 2016. On the flip side, critics suggested independents have derision for Trump that may have translated into either electoral apathy or votes for far-left candidates like Pennsylvania's John Fetterman over independent-minded Republicans like Dr. Mehmet Oz.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}DESANTIS RESPONDS TO PREDICTIONS MIAMI-DADE COULD TURN RED FOR FIRST GOVERNOR SINCE JEB BUSH
PHILADELPHIA, PA - NOVEMBER 05: President Joe Biden (L) and former U.S. President Barack Obama (R) rally (Photo by Mark Makela/Getty Images)
"Honestly I can't believe they voted for this guy," Watters said.
"Abortion was critical. We know in Pennsylvania -- I did not see that it was going to be that critical – Oz was not a great candidate. He had a brutal primary. He took the summer off, and he campaigned hard at the end. But people didn't trust him. They didn't trust the guy," Watters continued. "He wasn't from Pennsylvania [so they viewed him] as fraudulent."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}At the same time, Watters said Fetterman, who is recovering from a stroke he suffered earlier this year, followed President Biden's lead in keeping a low profile during the campaign and refusing to debate until weeks' worth of mail-in ballots had already been "banked."
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Democratic PA Lt. Gov John Fetterman (left) and Republican opponent Dr. Mehmet Oz, whose Senate race was among the most contested in the country. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
Watters said Arizona Republican Blake Masters appears "cooked" in his race but that Nevada senate candidate Adam Laxalt may hold on against incumbent Sen. Catherine Cortez-Masto.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In New York, Watters lamented Rep. Lee Zeldin's close loss to Gov. Kathleen Hochul, adding the Long Islander's coattails may have led to a wave of Republican wins upstate – including in Rockland County where DCCC Chairman Sean Patrick Maloney lost to Assemblyman Michael Lawler, R-Suffern.
The "Five" panel noted voters ages 18-34 and single women came out in droves to support Democrats, which likely pushed Fetterman and Gov-elect. Joshua Shapiro over the line in Pennsylvania and affected several other key statewide races across the country.
As of Wednesday evening, the Arizona governorship, Nevada Senate seat, Alaska at-large House and Senate seat, and a handful of close House contests in California remain outstanding. The Walker-Warnock senate contest in Georgia is primed for a December runoff. Current leader Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., is not yet projected to surpass the 50% margin required to avoid it.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}That Georgia race also included a Libertarian candidate Chase Oliver, which would allow for no candidate to potentially cross the 50-plus-1 threshold.