This is close to the result that I expect. Granted, it's gravis, but I don't think this poll is inaccurate.
It'd be a shame for Donnelly to go, though. We have way too much polarization in Congress, and Donnelly is one of the few people who works with the other side. Braun looks like he will just be a reliable Republican vote, which we already have far too much of in Congress.
You must be kidding. You say you do not like polarization, but you support most of the Democrats. If anything will create massive polarization, it would be a Democrat Senate driven by a Trump hating Democrat base squared off against Trump.
Please point out substantive examples of Donnelly working with Republicans.
Joe Donnelly has voted for most of Trump's appointees, and has voted for a ton of bills that mostly Republicans voted yes on. I don't have many examples off the top of my head, but he did support Trump's immigration plan, the 20 week abortion ban, & the banking bill. So he is clearly a bipartisan senator.
You can see his voting record here: https://voteview.com/person/20717/joe-donnelly
He is also ranked 4th most bipartisan according to Richard Lugar Center (meaning he seeks out a lot of GOP co-sponsors on his bills) http://www.thelugarcenter.org/ourwork-Bipartisan-Index.html
Also I mostly support democrats (right now) because I don't like when one party has control of everything, Trump is potentially dangerous when not left in check, Republicans are becoming extremists on immigration, and the tax bill & health care bill were incredibly poorly done - many Republicans did not like these bills (as shown by Conor Lamb & Tipinerni getting a significant amount of Republican defections). I will probably not be so enthusiastic about voting dem if they keep moving to the left.
Also, the 2018 Republican Senate candidates are quite poor too... Bob Hugin seems fairly good and I like John James, but they are otherwise crummy, grandstanding, far right hacks. Braun doesn't seem so bad, but Donnelly is a fine person and doesn't deserve to lose re-election.
I am a swing voter; you are such a big GOP hack that you would have voted Roy Moore instead of Doug Jones. You are a small, polarized minority. Not even far right Alabama voted for Roy Moore, so you are a special sort of polarized loony. I know your type very well - both of my parents are just like you. I love my parents but they are a special type of insane when it comes to politics.
Well Donnelly (in a similar manner to Manchin and Collins) votes with his party on everything that matters. He would never be the 50th vote for a GOP bill. He’s taken some token votes against his party but the same can be said of Collins and Murkowski (with the exception that Collins and Murkowski made one vote against the AHCA that was substantial and against the party line). Voting to confirm reasonable nominees is really not bipartisan just the Democrats have decided they don’t want anyone running the country if a Republican is president. Even fking McConnell voted for most of Obama’s nominees both times and he’s as big of a partisan hack swamp creature as there is.
The reality is there is no such thing as a bipartisan or moderate senator in this day and age. Only rarely will anyone truly buck the party line or support or sponsor something his or her party does not support. Donnelly is just another fake moderate like all the other senators from the wrong color state who try and play at working across the aisle sometimes.
It is perfectly reasonable to prefer Donnelly to Braun or policy or even just to oppose Trump. But it’s a bit disingenuous to suggest that Donnelly has done anything to deserve moderate accolades, just as the same argument would be disingenuous if applied to practically any other senator. MAYBE you could argue for Collins being moderate but the truth is she’s a hack at heart who supports abortion and gay rights and is saavy enough not to piss off her constituents. And she’s the closest thing there is right now.
Also I think Braun will win this once Pence campaigns for him. Indiana is really tough territory for the Dems and unless Braun has a Mourdock moment or a big ass skeleton in his closet I think Donnelly just got really unlucky on this one. I think he could’ve capitalized on either Rokita or Messer’s negativity and unpopularity but Braun is so formless and Ill-defined he kind of reminds me of Todd Young. Nothing really to attack with him, he will run on being a generic pro trump outsider with strong support from the establishment and plenty of money. He’s exactly the kind of candidate that a brandless and bland but positive figure like Donnelly will struggle with. The upside to being bland is that fewer people dislike you, allowing you to beat more negative opponents among swing voters. The downside is it is harder to build a personal brand necessary to beat an amorphous R blob like Braun.
