Philip M. Bailey

But when we spoke with Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer earlier this year when I had a one on one with him, he believes that the Senate is now within reach.

That will require a little bit of heavy lifting for Democrats.

That's going to require them to flip states like Alaska, like.

like Maine, Ohio, and North Carolina, and also at the same time defend states that they have right now, Michigan and Georgia.

So the way of the map right now is Donald Trump knowing that if Democrats take back the House and the Senate, particularly the House, his presidency is effectively over.

It looks that way initially.

Look, when we look down, for example, and we're going to have some tests here in some of these Republican primaries.

Let's take, for example, Marjorie Taylor Greene's old seat, the former congressman who was really the queen, the matriarch of the MAGA movement until she had some significant differences with President Trump on some issues like strikes to Iran, issues of affordability.

But chiefly, though, I think we should point out the main issue that MTG had with the president was that apparently, according to reporting across the country,

that the president told her that she didn't have the numbers to run for senate down in georgia so in her old seat in georgia's 14th congressional district which is northern georgia just outside of atlanta going up to the border with tennessee we see there that there's going to be a major test of president trump endorsing one of those candidates there and whether that person will end up winning that race will be a real first test of his still stronghold on the maga base that 14th district

Dana is one of the most MAGA-oriented, conservative, pro-Trump districts in the country.

And it looks like Mr. Fuller, the individual, the former prosecutor that he's endorsing, is considered the lead candidate.

There's also in Kentucky, 4th Congressional District held by Thomas Massey,

where President Trump and his allies have really leaned into and put a lot of money into Congressman Massey's primary opponent.

That, I think, even more so than Georgia's 14th congressional district, will be a real test and real Alamo moment for Trump in terms of his party hold.

If Massey falls, that shows that Donald Trump still is the big elephant in the room.

If Massey prevails, this is a man who's co-sponsored the Epstein-Fowles legislation, for example.

He has been a thorn in President Trump's side for a number of years now.

If he survives, you could start seeing Republicans at the House level and other Republican candidates across the country begin to buck the president, realizing that, oh, I have a political future beyond him, number one.

And number two, he isn't able to simply leverage out people who don't agree with his agenda or don't go along with the White House.