In the days when the Democratic presidential field was filled with a couple dozen candidates, a common line in their stump speeches would draw guaranteed applause: “Let’s make Mitch McConnell a back bencher.”
Though the process of narrowing that field to two candidates has sucked up most of the political oxygen over the past year, the fury within the Democratic base toward Mr. McConnell, the Senate majority leader, remains deep and motivating, and the desire to take back the chamber from Republicans is immense.
Republicans hold 53 Senate seats, meaning Democrats need to flip at least three of them, or four if President Trump is re-elected, to strip Mr. McConnell of his majority leader title. But Senator Doug Jones of Alabama, a Democrat, is facing a difficult race for re-election in his heavily Republican state, so Democrats may very well need to pick up five other seats.
