Captain Obvious
10-20-2018, 09:07 PM
https://www.npr.org/2018/10/20/658634709/trump-sticks-to-trump-country-as-he-pushes-for-gop-wins-in-the-midterms
Trump's goal is to campaign more aggressively ahead of the midterm elections this fall than any of his recent predecessors. He is concentrating his efforts in areas where in 2016 he outperformed previous Republican candidates, like Erie, Pa., where he campaigned last week. Stepien explains these areas "are bastions of Trump-ism, that candidly are more Trump than Republican."
As for the states he visits, Trump's travel schedule consistently favors those where Republicans are dominant as well as battleground states that will be key to deciding the 2020 presidential election. There are competitive house and senate races in Democrat-heavy states like New York, New Jersey and California but Trump isn't staging big rallies there. A Republican involved in Senate races around the country suggested to NPR that Trump's travel schedule is at least partially influenced by 2020 electoral considerations.
He is campaigning for a mix of House, Senate and gubernatorial candidates, who as Stepien puts it, "are echoing the president's message and the policy successes of these last two years — more jobs; better paying jobs; safer, more secure borders — most boldly, most proudly." In other words, those who are embracing Trump are much more likely to be embraced by him and are more likely to benefit from a presidential campaign stop anyway.
Boisterous rallies are a big part of the Trump experience. But the people who attend those rallies aren't necessarily Republicans or regular midterm voters. Stepien said as many as 30 percent of those in attendance at these rallies either voted for the first time in 2016 or typically vote only in presidential years, which is why Trump says that while he isn't on the ballot, his policies are. It is a somewhat unusual strategy for a president with an underwater approval rating headed into the first midterm election of his presidency.
https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2018/10/19/ap_18293084510691_custom-6d2161e2498adf6fc658bba16d7d9146bad797cb-s800-c85.jpg
Trump's goal is to campaign more aggressively ahead of the midterm elections this fall than any of his recent predecessors. He is concentrating his efforts in areas where in 2016 he outperformed previous Republican candidates, like Erie, Pa., where he campaigned last week. Stepien explains these areas "are bastions of Trump-ism, that candidly are more Trump than Republican."
As for the states he visits, Trump's travel schedule consistently favors those where Republicans are dominant as well as battleground states that will be key to deciding the 2020 presidential election. There are competitive house and senate races in Democrat-heavy states like New York, New Jersey and California but Trump isn't staging big rallies there. A Republican involved in Senate races around the country suggested to NPR that Trump's travel schedule is at least partially influenced by 2020 electoral considerations.
He is campaigning for a mix of House, Senate and gubernatorial candidates, who as Stepien puts it, "are echoing the president's message and the policy successes of these last two years — more jobs; better paying jobs; safer, more secure borders — most boldly, most proudly." In other words, those who are embracing Trump are much more likely to be embraced by him and are more likely to benefit from a presidential campaign stop anyway.
Boisterous rallies are a big part of the Trump experience. But the people who attend those rallies aren't necessarily Republicans or regular midterm voters. Stepien said as many as 30 percent of those in attendance at these rallies either voted for the first time in 2016 or typically vote only in presidential years, which is why Trump says that while he isn't on the ballot, his policies are. It is a somewhat unusual strategy for a president with an underwater approval rating headed into the first midterm election of his presidency.
https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2018/10/19/ap_18293084510691_custom-6d2161e2498adf6fc658bba16d7d9146bad797cb-s800-c85.jpg