Washington Free Beacon senior writer Elizabeth Harrington on Thursday said that consumer confidence numbers bode well for Republicans in the 2018 midterm elections.
Appearing on Fox Business, Harrington cited consumer confidence levels being at their highest point in a midterm election year since 1998, when Democrats added to their majority in the House while Bill Clinton was president. The consumer confidence index rose to 137.9 in October, the highest since 2000.
"If I could just say one thing about consumer confidence, the only other midterm election where it was higher than it is today was 1998, when President Bill Clinton and Democrats actually gained five seats in the House despite scandal surrounding President Clinton," Harrington said. "He [Clinton] was still popular because the economy was booming, and it really helped the Democrats in those midterms. So there could be some parallels to 1998."
Harrington also said on Fox Business that early voting numbers look good for Republicans. Host Neil Cavuto asked about how early voting levels are higher than they were in 2014, saying indications are positive for Republicans in key states like Nevada and Arizona.
"We have numbers out that are bigger already than the last midterms," Harrington said. "You would think that is a great benefit to the Democrats, but you actually have Republicans keeping pace with Democrats, and Democrats are typically supposed to be the ones that are doing more early voting than Republicans."
Harrington also argued that the fight to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh increased GOP voter enthusiasm.
"Republicans are showing a lot of enthusiasm, and I hate to bring it up again, but the Kavanaugh effect I think actually did really rally a lot of Republicans to get excited about voting in this election," she said.