Midterms all about Trump for Republicans
WASHINGTON — Congressional Republicans seem to have coalesced around a strategy for the midterm elections, and it’s the exact one Democrats have been warned to avoid: making it all about President Trump.
Yesterday, at a lunch on Capitol Hill with Senate Republicans, Trump doubled down on his vow to be a mainstay on the campaign trail leading up to November. And Republicans, desperate to hold onto or build upon their 5149 Senate majority, and also to stave off an effort by Democrats to take back the House, seem to be fully on board with letting the president be the face of those efforts.
“In midterms, it’s all about turning out the base,” said Republican strategist John Feehery. “Nobody turns out the base better than Trump.”
The strategy comes despite Trump’s less-than-stellar track record on the campaign stump so far. In a pair of stinging special election losses, Trump-backed Alabama U.S. Senate hopeful Roy Moore and Pennsylvania congressional candidate Rick Saccone were defeated — both deep in Trump country.
It also comes as a string of White House controversies have roiled Capitol Hill, including comments made by one of Trump’s aides last week disparaging U.S. Sen. John McCain (Rariz.), who is receiving treatment for brain cancer in Arizona.
Though Republicans including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called on that aide, Kelly Sadler, to apologize, no one brought up the incident during the lunch with Trump.
Instead, they focused on Trump’s incrementally rising poll numbers and the issues he represents in hopes that they will stir enough base voters to help protect the party’s control of Congress
“This is very different from a presidential election,” said GOP strategist Ford O’Connell. “It’s wise to make it about the Trump agenda. If they are going to hold the House, the economic message will be the key.”
Republicans in the meeting also focused on the economy.
“I think the president rightfully can take great credit for some significant strides that we have made,” said U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) of one the topics lawmakers discussed with Trump yesterday. “A pro-growth, pro-jobs agenda can make a tremendous difference to the American people.”
But a focus on the president also places a spotlight on all the potentially controversial and divisive rhetoric he’s known for during his off-script, freewheeling addresses.
Trump’s incendiary nature could backfire on Republicans, serving as a get-out-the-vote tool for Democrats. It can also turn off potential independent voters and moderate Republicans who are happy with the economy, but weary of the president’s tweets and outbursts.
O’Connell said Trump could turn to surrogates like Vice President Mike Pence in some districts, like suburbs where Trump’s support among women has taken a dip since 2016.
“There is not a one-size-fits-all plan,” O’Connell said. “But the idea of trying to win in the midterms while walking away from Trump is foolhardy.”