“The best way to win is to run on what we’ve done and what we’re for,” Biden said. “And we should point out what they’re for.”
Democrats would need to gain 30 seats in this November’s elections to capture a House majority. Republicans currently outnumber them 247-188, a number that includes a vacant GOP district in Ohio that the party seems certain to retain.
Yet analysts agree Democrats have no real chance of winning control because only two to three dozen House seats are considered in play this fall, thanks to computer-drawn district lines that protect most incumbents.
The prospects are better in the Senate, where Democrats need to gain four seats if the party holds the White House. Republicans have more seats to defend, 24 to the Democrats’ 10, and many of those GOP seats are in states President Barack Obama won, including Illinois, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Ohio.
Biden steered clear of the divisive Democratic nomination struggle between Hillary Clinton and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Biden said the fight against ISIS is going better than is commonly appreciated. He predicted rebels would be defeated in Raqqa, Syria and Mosul, Iraq this year, mirroring recent gains in Ramadi, Iraq. He said part of the reason is that Obama got European allies “to pony up.”
“The idea that they’re gaining and not losing is just not accurate,” Biden said.
On the political front, Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi of California announced Thursday that she raised $40 million for House Democrats last year, including $30.4 million for the campaign committee. A prodigious fundraiser, Pelosi held 205 fundraisers in 35 cities.
Pelosi became a member of the Democratic leadership in 2002 and since then, has raised $468.9 million for Democrats.
Obama plans to address the meeting Thursday evening.
___
Associated Press writer Alan Fram in Washington contributed to this report.
