‘Grim resolve’: With Biden up big and the Senate in sight, Democrats still haunted by fear of letdown

USA Today!!!
WASHINGTON – Democrats have heard this story before.

Their standard-bearer builds a sizable lead in the race for president against Donald Trump. Everything seems pointed in their direction. Pundits start talking about a Democratic victory like it’s inevitable.

Then it doesn’t happen.

Still licking their wounds four years after Hillary Clinton’s stinging loss, Democrats are grappling with heightened expectations that didn’t seem possible at the start of the year. Presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden cruised to a double-digit lead nationally weeks ago, and has stayed there, as President Trump takes a pounding over his handling of the coronavirus crisis, high unemployment and the fallout from nationwide protests over police brutality.

Not only does Biden lead polls in every battleground state – a wider command than Clinton ever had – the former vice president is either ahead or competitive in states that the GOP must carry, including Texas, Georgia, Iowa, Ohio and Missouri. Once improbable, Democrats also have a path to take control of the Senate.

More:Trump trails Biden in Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Florida, North Carolina and Arizona, poll finds

Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden speaks during a campaign event June 30, 2020 at Alexis I. Dupont High School in Wilmington, Delaware.
On one hand, Democrats are gushing about their prospects: A chance for a sweeping victory, not just eking out a win, to deliver a clear repudiation of the Trump era and unseat Mitch McConnell as Senate Majority Leader.

But they’re not able to shake off their painful memories of 2016, when many Democrats falsely assumed that the Republican Party’s nomination of a reality TV show host with no elected office experience would ensure a Clinton victory in November.
https://www.usatoday.com/videos/news/nation/2020/06/30/biden-trump-has-a-lot-answer-for-russia/5351863002/