Vice President Joe Biden says the pundits have it wrong: The Democrats will hold onto control of the Senate.
In an interview Monday with CNN, Biden said he doesn‘t agree with the “odds-makers” who have Republicans picking up enough Senate seats in Tuesday’s election to claim control of the chamber.
“I predict we're gonna, we're gonna keep the Senate,” Biden said in the interview. “I’ve been in sixty -- 67 races, all told. I don't get the feeling that the odds-makers are getting.”
He argued that “if you look at every single major issue in this campaign, the American public agrees with our position, from federal support for infrastructure to minimum wage to marriage equality; every single poll.”
As for Biden’s own political future, he said he’s focused on his job and has plenty of time to decide whether or not to run for president in 2016. He said he may decide to run even if Hillary Clinton decides to run.
“That's not the reason not to run or to run,”he said of a potential Clinton candidacy. “The question is am I, am I convinced I am the best positioned of anyone else to lead the country?”
Many polls suggest Republicans will pick up enough seats to regain the Senate, but White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said Obama agrees with his vice president.
“It is rooted in this idea that if, as voters hone in on the central question in this campaign, which is ‘Are you going to be supportive of a candidate who is fighting for policies that benefit middle class families,’ “ Earnest said. “That is a very strong argument for Democrats to effectively make in the context of this campaign.”
Earnest said Democrats are also aided by a “tried and true ground campaign strategy” honed by the Obama reelection campaign that he said could make the difference in close races.