Republican Election Guru Goes Nuclear on Trump’s Midterm Plan
A veteran Republican strategist has warned that Donald Trump’s plans to avoid a GOP electoral wipeout in the midterms are doomed to fail.
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Karl Rove, the architect of George W. Bush’s successful campaigns for governor and president, suggested that Trump is sticking to a “losing” path by ignoring how deeply unpopular he has become.
Writing in the Rupert Murdoch-owned Wall Street Journal, Rove questioned two of Trump’s plans to give the GOP a much-needed midterm boost: spending heavily on ads touting his apparent second-term achievements and holding daily rallies in competitive states and districts in the run-up to the Nov. 3 elections.
“What could go wrong with a rally a day and hundreds of millions of dollars in ads in battleground states featuring Mr. Trump? A lot,” Rove wrote.
“For starters, if your approval rating is low, making the election even more about you only helps the opposition.”
Trump has recorded dire approval ratings throughout his second term amid intense backlash to his handling of the economy, his failure to tackle food prices, and his war on Iran.
Republicans fear that being associated with a president whose approval rating is in the low 30s is going to severely damage their election chances in the midterms.
Rove believes those fears are warranted and could be exacerbated if Trump follows through on his idea of holding daily rallies to try to energize Republican voters.
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“Mr. Trump is never disciplined. He’ll have no script, saying whatever comes to mind. His crazy comments will dominate the news, locally and nationally,” Rove wrote.
“Republican candidates will constantly have to fend off questions about whether they agree with his latest insult or half-baked idea. The narrative won’t be on anything positive about them or the GOP.”
Rove suggested that better options for improving the GOP’s chances in November would be to focus ads on Republican candidates—not the 80-year-old president—and to open up his super PAC’s $400 million war chest and spend it on Republican campaigns.
Multiple Republican lawmakers and GOP donors have already urged Trump to have his MAGA Inc. Super PAC spend heavily during the midterm cycle, with the elections just weeks away.
“Rumor is Mr Trump wants to save the money for his presidential library. That would really irritate donors. The GOP would be far better off if he started spending that cash. It would be better if he had already begun,” Rove added.
“The White House is almost too late. Republican candidates are running out of time to change the dynamics of the midterms. Mr. Trump spending his dollars featuring them, while he focuses on his day job, could still make a difference. Clock’s ticking.”
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The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
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