Donald Trump is concluding his final electoral campaign with a series of rallies across the country, aiming to turn out his most fervent supporters and thwart Democratic efforts to curtail his power. The 80-year-old president has been on a nearly month-long blitz through ruby red states, and initially called off campaign stops in Iowa and Kansas for telerallies before changing his mind and deciding to go forward with them on Sunday.
Most surveys indicate that rival Democrats have strong odds of gaining the three congressional seats needed to take control of the House, and Democrats are increasingly optimistic about their chances in the Senate, with seven seats closely locked in the polls. However, Republican insiders describe a Senate map that is still largely in toss-up territory or within reach for a win, with a path to Senate control involving holding seats in Maine and Midwestern states such as Iowa, Kansas, and Nebraska.
Trump’s Rally Strategy
At the Sunday rally in Dubuque, Iowa, Trump talked about traveling across the country for his events. he said to cheers.
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For Republicans, it’s unclear whether the president’s rallies are a help or a distraction. The GOP is on its back foot, largely burdened by Trump’s low approval ratings, including broad disappointment over his failure to fulfill campaign pledges to lower the cost of living and to keep the US out of foreign wars.
Trump’s freewheeling style thrills his most loyal supporters, who have long seen it as a sign of political authenticity. But in a campaign in which voters say the economy and health care are extremely important issues, Trump’s off-message remarks risk undercutting his own party. In Husted’s state, Trump defended an ad from Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy that features the estranged mother of Democratic opponent Amy Acton calling her daughter a liar despite worries the backlash over the ad could drag down the rest of the GOP ticket.
Challenges for Republicans
A Republican official speaking on condition of anonymity acknowledged that the environment for Republicans is particularly tough due to Trump’s numbers being significantly underwater in many states. The official said that in the closing stretch of the race, Republicans needed to remind voters of what they stand for — policies such as lower taxes. Even when Trump has sought to address the high costs that are his biggest political vulnerability, though, his messaging has been erratic.
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Higher pump prices brought on by the Iran war have been a particularly resonant symbol of the economic pain US households are facing. But while Trump has insisted those prices will fall immediately after the midterms, he’s also threatened new strikes on Iran that risk extending the conflict and further disrupting energy supplies. His signature rallies began in 2015 as part of his underdog presidential bid, and their chaotic energy helped propel him to the White House.
Trump in recent days has reignited his feud with former President Barack Obama, who joked that Trump’s gold-gilded renovations of the White House looked like “Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory.” And Trump has jabbed at his own supporters, joking that even if they received his promised $5,000 checks for keeping Congress Republican they would at best be able to spring for “a hamburger and maybe a small dessert” at his Mar-a-Lago resort in South Florida.
Democrats, meanwhile, have been trying to expand their targets and be more aggressive in GOP strongholds than in many cycles. Some operatives describe a perfect storm hitting Republicans based on economic pain that is easily traced to Trump policies. Their House campaign arm made ad buys in the Kansas 2nd Congressional District, where Trump won easily in the past, and in the district represented by Representative Richard Hudson, the head of the GOP House campaign arm.
