Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel warned participants at the Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) Conference they could not afford to be complacent in the months leading up to the 2018 midterm elections.
McDaniel maintained Democrats had the "energy" leading up to the fall elections and warned the conservative audience Republicans could lose if they weren't careful, The Hill reported Friday.
"As quickly as we just gained this in this one year turnaround, we can lose it. Complacency is our worst enemy going into the midterms," McDaniel said. "Democrats have the energy. We need to ramp up and have that same energy going into these midterms or we are going to lose."
McDaniel went on to explain that "history is against the party that holds the White House" in the first midterms following the election of a new president. She called on attendees not to be "arrogant" like Democrats had been in the 2016 election when they believed Hillary Clinton would win the presidency, adding they should "wake up" to a "sense of urgency."
"We want to defy history and we need Republicans energized and engaged," she said. "Everyone has to wake up with this sense of urgency — that same urgency that we wanted to win the White House we have to use to protect our majorities in the Senate and the House because our country is on a comeback."
Most nonpartisan analysts, the Hill noted, have predicted a Democratic wave could be brewing due to the unpopularity of President Donald Trump. The president, when speaking to the CPAC crowd earlier, challenged Republicans to "fight" in the fall elections.
"Historically if you win the presidency you don't do well two years later. You know what? We can't let that happen," Trump said. "We need more Republicans. That's why you have to go out there and fight for 2018."
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