Washington (CNN) Chuck Schumer is not only the leader of Democrats in the Senate. He's also the smartest political mind of that group. Which makes what the New York Senator told MSNBC on Friday sort of perplexing. "If the President continues this way, there is a chance we could take back the Senate," Schumer said. I'm assuming that Schumer was referring to the 2018 midterms. And if he was, then man oh man was he being optimistic. Wildly so, even. Start here: Republicans control 52 seats to 48 for Democrats and Democratic-caucusing independents Angus King (Maine) and Bernie Sanders (Vermont). To retake the majority, they need a net gain of three seats.Democrats are defending a whopping 25 seats as compared to just eight for RepublicansOf their 25 seats, 10 of them are in states that Donald Trump won in the 2016 presidential election
George W. Bush bucked the midterm trend due in large part to the cataclysm of Sept. 11, 2001, which rallied the country behind him and helped _ actually gain two seats in 2002.