Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
GOP candidates balance pros, cons of running with Trump
WASHINGTON » President Donald Trump is hitting the road again. And while a campaign event with a president who draws TV cameras and raucous crowds can be gold for down-ballot candidates, these days its value can be debatable.
Republican Sen. Thom Tillis, facing a competitive North Carolina reelection contest, “is looking forward to campaigning” with Trump, Tillis’ spokesperson said. GOP Sen. Steve Daines tweeted, “Montana can’t wait to have you back, Mr. President!” after Trump promised to help him battle a strong Democratic challenger.
Yet a spokesperson said Sen. Susan Collins, RMaine, in the reelection fight of her life in a state
Trump lost narrowly in 2016, “was at work in Washington” recently as Trump visited Maine to open a marine conservation area to commercial fishing. The Senate wasn’t in session that day.
And while GOP Senate candidate John James appeared with Trump in May in Michigan, where polls have trended against the president, James demurred when asked about his 2017 comment that he backs Trump “2,000%.” James said he supports Trump, adding, “I’m looking forward to running my own race, being my own man.”
Trump is the GOP’s unrivaled beast, commanding the unswerving fealty of nearly all its voters. While some Republican candidates yanked their support late in his 2016 campaign after a decadeold video showed him boasting about groping women, he’s since proved that crossing him can be politically fatal.
Yet Trump’s divisive lawand-order response to protests against police killings of African Americans, the untamed coronavirus pandemic and the worst economy in decades have wounded him. His job approval rating dipped to a dangerously low 39% in the latest Gallup poll.
That’s jeopardized his November reelection, endangered the GOP’s Senate control and made a Republican House takeover highly unlikely. It’s also left nervous Republicans debating whether congressional candidates in tight races should link hands with him or create distance.
For most, there’s little question that homage to Trump is smartest. Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, seeking reelection in states Trump will likely carry, have no incentive to rebel.
Sen. David Perdue, R-Ga., is also not straying. “Bring it on,” Perdue spokesperson Casey Black said of any efforts to attack his closeness with Trump.
Distancing from Trump would be “a stupid strategy,” said GOP pollster Neil Newhouse. “If the base sees you’re turning your back on the president, they will cut you off.”
Others Republicans face tougher choices. Tillis, Collins, and Sens. Cory Gardner in Colorado and Martha McSally in Arizona are from states Trump could well lose.
Republican candidates are “hostages,” said Trump critic Tim Miller, an aide to past GOP presidential contenders including Jeb Bush. But he said Trump’s recent problems, like retweeting a false conspiracy theory about an elderly Buffalo, New York, protester shoved to the ground by police, offer an opening.