Matthews: ‘I think the Senate goes’

MSNBC host Chris Matthews on Thursday predicted Democrats would lose control of the Senate in the midterm elections.

{mosads}Matthews said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” that Democrats heard from “the ghost of Christmas future” earlier this week when Democrat Alex Sink lost to Republican David Jolly in a special election for Florida’s 13th congressional district on Tuesday.

“It is going to be very hard to hold the Senate. I think the Senate goes,” he predicted, given the low turnout in midterms. “I think we heard from the ghost of Christmas future this week, which is they are going to lose the Senate.”

He previously predicted Democrats could lose up to 10 seats, with a “rosy” scenario being a loss of five.

Matthews said Thursday that Democrats had to get tough and change their message to “what side are you on.” That is the only way to prevent big losses in the House as well, he said.

“They got to change the game to ‘what side are you on’ and expect the worst from Republicans. You got to get really tough to win this,” he said.

He said Democrats should come out hard against Republican on issues like Social Security, strict voting laws and abortion.

Republicans would have to net six seats in the Senate to take the majority. Democrats are facing a tough landscape this year. They are defending 21 of the 36 seats up for reelection, with a number in red states that President Obama lost in 2012.

House Republicans have a 17-seat advantage and their majority is not expected to be in play.