Trump’s hand in midterm races not so welcome in some corners of GOP
NEW YORK — He is the Republican Party’s most powerful political weapon. Yet as the GOP fights to defend its delicate House and Senate majorities, President Donald Trump is not welcome everywhere.
Friends and foes alike acknowledge that in some parts of the country, Trump can be extraordinarily effective by energizing his supporters. In others, his efforts have the potential to backfire by motivating Democrats or repelling skeptical independents and suburban Republicans.
“I would like the president to do his job, and I’ll do mine,” Dan David, a Republican congressional hopeful trying to maintain the GOP’s hold on a seat in suburban Philadelphia, said when asked if he’d like Trump to visit his district.
“I win or lose on my team’s merits,” David said. “I think that the president has a very, very full plate with foreign affairs and special prosecutor investigations.”
The current White House strategy calls for Trump to focus on fundraising and campaigning in states key to control of the Senate, including Indiana, Montana, Tennessee, North Dakota, Missouri, West Virginia and Pennsylvania, according to a person familiar with the strategy who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal planning.
Vice President Mike Pence will be heavily involved in the Senate effort and also in House races, especially in rural areas that are more difficult for the president to reach.
Closer to Election Day in November, Trump is expected to shift his attention to rallies designed to bolster get-outthe-vote efforts. But next on Trump’s schedule is a trip to Tennessee later this month for a Nashville rally and a fundraiser in support of Rep. Marsha Blackburn’s Senate campaign.
“It’s a matter of picking your locations very strategically,” said Republican pollster Chris Wilson, who is involved in several midterm contests.
“Going to Florida, anywhere in the central time zone, would be a fantastic place for him to campaign,” Wilson said, referring to a narrow slice of the state along the Panhandle that votes so overwhelmingly Republican that it helps offset Democratic votes in Miami and south Florida. “I’d love to have Donald Trump in east Texas, parts of south Texas where he’s still popular. Other parts of south Texas, maybe not.”
Steven Law heads the Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC that expects to spend tens of millions of dollars helping Senate Republicans. He said he feels that the White House is aware of when and how to best deploy the president.
“Can’t use him everywhere,” Law said. “There are risks in certain places.”