Jeff Swensen
A senior Republican lawmaker has warned his party colleagues to brace for a blue wave in the 2018 midterm election cycle. “I think there’s going to be a very challenging election environment. Nobody’s had a good off-year election since 2002. So I think Republicans would be well advised to get ready,” Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK), the deputy majority whip, told MSNBC on Sunday night. However, he added: “Now fortunately I think we are [ready]. I don’t think there’s any complacency.” Separately, a Republican strategist advised President Trump to build up his legal team because a “storm is coming” in the form of special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, which could lead to his impeachment. Alex Castellanos, who has worked on campaigns for Jeb Bush and Mitt Romney, told ABC News: “It’s hard to believe that when Republicans lose the House in 2018, maybe by 40 or 50 seats, that the House is not going to impeach him.”