Congressman Colin Allred discusses Democrats' midterm prospects on "The Takeout"

The impending departure of 30 House Democrats who aren't seeking reelection and congressional redistricting after the 2020 Census have created challenging conditions for Democrats hoping to hold onto their slim majorities in Congress in the midterm elections in November. Republicans are confident they'll retake the House, and they have hopes of flipping the 50-50 Senate their way, too. Nonetheless, Congressman Colin Allred, Democrat of Texas, thinks it's too early for his party to give up. Russia/Ukraine: "You know, our intelligence assessments are that we think the Russians have decided to go in and we're hoping to dissuade them still, but that decision has been reached and it is only a question of when… The Russians, I think, are miscalculating what they think the international response will be… I think Vladimir Putin is increasingly isolated and surrounded by a group of yes men who are not telling him the truth."  Will 2022 midterm election results be "verifiable and acceptable?" "I think they'll be verified and acceptable, but that doesn't mean that the election will be conducted in a way that was fair and equitable for every voter. And so what we're seeing right now in Texas is extremely high rejection rates for vote by mail applications because of a change to the state law around how you can apply for a vote by mail ballot."  State of the Republican Party: "I think that we have to also recognize that this is a different version of the Republican Party…This is not the John Boehner and Paul Ryan crew. This is a group that is extreme and that has already said, you know, I think most of their focus from what they're talking about, what they want to do is revenge based. You know, whether it's Hunter Biden or, you know, trying to impeach President Biden"  House Democrats' midterm prospects: "It's clear that, you know, we are facing a tough election coming up and that we have to get our very best team on the field. And there are some folks who may feel that, you know, they put so much energy into getting to this point that you know, that they're going to get off here. But you know, we haven't seen anyone, at least, that I'm aware of, except for maybe one or two who are retiring and seats that we will lose because they are no longer there."  

"I recognize that the national kind of, you know, talking point is that the House is going to be lost and that's why so many people are retiring," Allred, who represents Texas' 32nd Congressional District, told CBS News chief Washington correspondent Major Garrett on this week's episode of "The Takeout" podcast. "I tend to disagree that that fight is over." 

He believes that despite the high turnover among Democrats even before a vote has been cast, the laws that have been passed to give relief to struggling Americans — the American Rescue Plan that sent $1,400 checks to individuals and the bipartisan infrastructure bill — will make a difference when voters hit the polls later this year.