Pelosi ‘not concerned’ about tightening polls

Polls showing Donald Trump closing in on Hillary Clinton will benefit Democrats across the ballot, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D) said Thursday, predicting her party will pick up at least 25 seats in the House.

The California liberal said she’s “not concerned” that polls of the presidential race have tightened in recent weeks, arguing that the heightened threat of a Trump presidency will only energize Democrats fearful of having the combative businessman in the White House.

{mosads}”I want Hillary Clinton to have the biggest possible mandate. But if the Republicans want to believe that this race is tightening, let them believe that. Because the more our own people see that it’s important to vote — and a tight race sort of speaks to that urgency — then more of them will turn out,” Pelosi told reporters in the Capitol. 

“So it works to our advantage.”

National polls in recent weeks have showed Trump gaining on Clinton amid increased scrutiny of her health, her use of private email for State Department business and her transparency with the public. A CBS News/New York Times poll released Thursday placed the candidates dead even, each taking 42 percent support.

Pelosi says she’s not worried, predicting a Clinton victory and a slew of Democratic wins in the House.

She said Democrats’ advantage is twofold: In Clinton, she said, they have an “exuberant” candidate with the “judgment” and “strategic thinking” to tackle “the concerns of America’s working families.”

“The big difference between the two parties, one is trickle-down economics, the other is middle-class economics, an economy that works for everyone,” she said. “And I think we couldn’t have a more articulate spokesperson to make that distinction.” 

And in Trump, who has alienated large blocs of voters with his brusque approach and incendiary statements, Pelosi said Democrats have “the gift that keeps on giving.”

“[He] has helped us mobilize voters at the grassroots level, increasing our registration and urgency for turnout, [and he] helps us raise money,” Pelosi said. “He makes a clear distinction between us and him. And I wish it wouldn’t have to be that way, I wish it would just be about all of us, but he’s a gift that keeps on giving.”

With House Republicans enjoying their largest majority since the Great Depression, Democrats would need to flip 30 seats to retake control of the lower chamber. Pelosi said Thursday that the goal is attainable, predicting that whichever party controls the House in the next Congress, its majority will be slight. 

“Either they’ll be ahead by a single digit or we’ll be ahead by a single digit,” Pelosi said. 

For her prediction to come true, Democrats would need to flip at least 25 seats.