Why Even CNN’s Analyst Thinks GOP Has Upper Hand In Midterm

CNN data guru Harry Enten broke down the major issues facing American voters as the 2026 midterm elections approach, and on nearly every issue, he had more bad news for Democrats.

Enten laid out the latest numbers on everything from crime to the economy to immigration — and had to pause to exclaim, “My goodness gracious!” — as he asked Democrats what they were doing to change the trajectory of their party.

WATCH:

🚨NEW: CNN’s Harry Enten spells out GOP *ADVANTAGES* in midterms🚨

“Who leads on the economy? Republicans by 7! Immigration? Republicans by 13! How about crime? A big issue for Donald Trump and the Republicans. Look at that: lead by 22 points!”

“What are you doing, Democrats!?… pic.twitter.com/iSRxpatIFS

— Jason Cohen 🇺🇸 (@JasonJournoDC) September 22, 2025

Enten spoke with anchor Kate Bolduan about the state of things, and he got more and more animated as he laid out the split between the parties on each additional issue.

“What are we seeing? You know, Donald Trump being underwater, Democrats are, ‘oh, this guarantees us, we’re gonna fly high in the midterms.’ Let me tell you, this guarantees you nothing. Nothing. Because at this particular point, the Democrats are the New Orleans Saints of political parties,” Enten said, invoking the 0-and-3 record of the Louisiana NFL team.

“What are we talking about?” Enten went on to show which party Americans trusted more to handle major issues. “Trust the Dems or the GOP more on the economy? Who leads on the economy? Republicans by 7! Immigration? Republicans by 13! How about crime? A big issue for Donald Trump and the Republicans. Look at that: lead by 22 points!”

“So the bottom line is this,” he declared. “At this particular point, the ball may be on the ground, but the Democrats have not picked up the ball and run with it. If anything, at this particular point, it’s the Republicans who are running with the ball on the top issues: the economy, immigration, and crime.”

Bolduan asked Enten to make a comparison between the current polling and the polling ahead of the 2022 midterm elections, when Republicans gained control of the U.S. House of Representatives.

“This kind of gives away the game,” Enten observed as he noted that Republicans had been ahead on the same issues in 2022: they were up by 12 points on the economy, by 3 points on immigration, and by 13 points on crime.

Enten noted that while the Republican lead on the economy was slightly lower, the party’s lead on the two other major issues had grown by wider margins.

“How about immigration? It was Republicans by three back in 2022,” he said. “Look at this! The Republican lead’s actually gone up by ten points. What are you doing, Democrats?! My goodness gracious! And on crime, Republicans were up by 13, now they’re up by 22, their lead again expanding by nearly double digits!”

“So whatever Democrats are doing, it ain’t working, Kate!” Enten exclaimed.