MASON, Mich. — Republican Rep. Mike Bishop thought he had a third-quarter fundraising haul to brag about, until he saw the number posted by Elissa Slotkin, his Democratic challenger.
Slotkin’s $2.6 million raised in the three-month period ending Sept. 30 dwarfed Bishop’s $800,000-plus, and is part of the green wave of Democratic campaign cash putting traditionally Republican districts like this one in play. Just three weeks ahead of critical midterm elections, it is bewildering Bishop, laboring to hang on in a competitive suburban-exurban battleground that could determine control of the House of Representatives.
“I was proud of myself — and then she pulls in $2.6 million, and it blows your doors off, because you just can’t believe that anybody could find that much money,” Bishop said in an interview Tuesday as he campaigned across Michigan’s 8th Congressional District, stretching from Detroit to Lansing. “It blows me away.”
[Also read: Beto O’Rourke won’t share his $38M with fellow Democrats]
Bishop, 51, spoke to the Washington Examiner in Ingham County, near Lansing, the state capital, just before stumping for votes at a local Michigan Farm Bureau powwow. The congressman is in a dogfight in a seat that has voted Republican for Congress in consecutive elections since 2000. President Trump defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton here by nearly 7 percentage points.
As Bishop fielded questions from local farmers before racing an hour east to the Livingston County Right to Life dinner, voters asked about Trump’s policies, mainly the trade dispute with China. None mentioned the president’s provocative behavior, on display Tuesday for the first time in weeks as he tweeted about the Russia investigation led by special counsel Robert Mueller — and Stormy Daniels, the adult film actress with whom he allegedly had an extramarital affair.
Trump referred to Daniels as “Horeseface” in a Tuesday morning tweet, gloating after a lawsuit she filed against the president was thrown out of court by a federal judge. “’Federal Judge throws out Stormy Danials [sic] lawsuit versus Trump. Trump is entitled to full legal fees.’ @FoxNews Great, now I can go after Horseface and her 3rd rate lawyer in the Great State of Texas. She will confirm the letter she signed! She knows nothing about me, a total con!”
It’s this sort of coarse, juvenile language from Trump that is fanning a suburban revolt, especially among female voters. It’s the political undercurrent behind the rise of Slotkin, 42, formidable in her own right with a resume that boasts unique national security experience garnered during her tenure at the Central Intelligence Agency.
Bishop, while crediting the president’s accomplishments, conceded that he could do without the “sideshow” broadcast via Trump’s Twitter feed. “It’s oftentimes a three-ring circus,” Bishop said.
“I’ve always felt as though, if we could focus on those things that we done that are positive and really celebrate them and be able to message that, rather than have [Trump’s tweets] happen and have to deal with that, it’s oftentimes a three-ring circus.”
“We have to accept the fact, also, that we’re not all like Donald Trump,” the congressman added. “He’s got his own personality and his own style and we agree with him when he’s right and we disagree with him when he’s wrong. I’ve had to do that over the past year and a half and distance myself. But, again, I’m not afraid of the president. I think he’s done a fantastic job in doing so many good things for this country.”
