Schumer: Obama ‘very amenable’ to helping Senate Dems in midterms

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Wednesday that he expects former President Obama to continue participating actively in national races ahead of the November midterm elections.

Schumer told The Washington Post that he has reached out to the former president on a number of issues related to 2018 Senate races, but declined to specify what he hoped Obama would do for congressional Democrats seeking to retake the majority in November.

“I’ve asked him to be involved in certain ways and he’s been very amenable,” Schumer said.

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Obama has become involved in a number of campaigns already, fundraising for vulnerable Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) and endorsing Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) in her primary against liberal challenger Kevin De León.

Schumer also defended vulnerable Democrats including Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), who had his remaining corruption charges dismissed by the Justice Department earlier this year.

“Menendez works really hard for New Jersey and when they find out that Mr. [Bob] Hugin embraces Trump and was an executive of a drug company that raised prices and got into all kinds of trouble … [Hugin’s] not going to win that race,” Schumer said, referring to Menendez’s GOP challenger.

Asked whether former President Clinton or 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton should be involved in rallying Democrats, Schumer deflected.

“It’s up to each candidate if they want them or don’t want them,” he said.

Democrats hope to retake the Senate and House in November. A Quinnipiac poll released Wednesday showed the party with a 7-point lead over Republicans on a generic House ballot heading into the fall, a number that has fluctuated and been deemed a toss-up in recent months.