on the apprentice which may work for tv but not good for governing. chris: it s pretty good for television. we have to take a break. when we come back, a dramatic upset in pennsylvania s 18th congressional district. what does democrat con he conors signal tore the midterm election. hillary clinton is explaining her loss to president trump and people in her party
and stay out of primaries. one thing, pennsylvania 18 doesn t tell us, is democratic primaries. there simply isn t enough oxygen here with the president. the addidemocratic party is goi through its own identity situation, crisis, whatever. so if progressives win a lot of democratic primaries, that could help republicans, of course. that is something to keep an eye on, which democratic candidates emerge. there wasn t a primary, of course, in pennsylvania 18. democrats have some issues of their own. certainly, though, not as many as republicans. that s the thing, if you talk to republicans about the one way they can hold on to the house this year, as things are lacking so dire for them is the primaries nominating far-left candidates. . and if they can get their message back on the tax law, which they believe can ultimately deliver them the president or keep the house and keep the senate. but, of course, the constant controversies out of washington, the president constantly undercutti
welcome back. the first big contest of 2018, pennsylvania s 18th congressional district, not officially settled yet, but the message is cleared nonetheless. democrats are ecstatic, republicans despondent. why? the democrat issed in the lead likely to win, but the democrat in the lead in a district president trump carried by 20 points. another reason democrats are happy, the suburban revolt against the president, which we saw throughout 2017 has carried over into 2018. this lower slice of allegheny county going for conor lamb. the president carried this slice against hillary clinton. here s another reason. because of the results here, democratic intensity, the big turnout, the democratic success in trump country, cnn has changed its characterization of 17 more house districts. now, these numbers may mean nothing to you. but last week, there were more seats solid republican, more seats likely republican, more seats lean republican. this week, more toss-ups and a better outlook for the de
pennsylvania s 18th congressional district. president trump won that same district, by the way, by some 20 points in 2016. well, now a 33-year-old rookie democrat named conor lamb is already claiming victory over republican rick saccone. lamb has a minor lead there, still fewer than 7 hurrica00 voi want to cnn has not yet projected a winner in this race, the election results aren t yet official. let s talk it over with nathan gonzalez. before i ask you a question, there s another poll out today and let s look at it. it s an nbc/ wall street journal poll, asking registered voters which party they want to control congress after the midterm elections, and look at that, 50% want democrats, 40% want republicans. nathan, dems have a ten-point margin there, which has widened, in fact, since january. what s behind it? well, i think there s one person that is unifying and energizing the democratic party, and that s president donald j.
so strong in trump country, have abo better odds of getting the house back. that s one way to look at it. let s come out to the national map here. this is the house of representatives across the country right now. this is how it ended after 2016. you see all that red? that s republicans. here s another way to look at this. if you look at pennsylvania 18, these are 20 other districts that are a lot like it. same kind of voters, same kind of economy, same kind of demographics, overwhelmingly white, for example. yes, a handful of seats up here match the demographics, essentially. will democrats run stronger here because of that? maybe. but if you re one of these republicans, you re looking at pennsylvania 18, calling your pollster and campaign team and saying, can that happen to me? the favor getting more reflective of democrats. this has a modest budget, this ad, but call it an effort to turn the tables. as republican house speaker paul ryan tools around washington, who does he think