Soon, President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence will airdrop into Indiana to go on the offense against Sen. Joe Donnelly. Republicans hope that the sooner they get their licks in against the incumbent Democrat the easier it will be to beat him in November.
They will have a hard time of it, because Donnelly has been preparing for this fight since he first got elected as a Democrat in red Indiana.
Donnelly has made bipartisanship his brand, and he regularly points to studies that highlight a comparatively centrist record. Before Air Force One touched down in the vice president’s home state, the senator’s campaign relaunched that well-worn defense. Their message: Donnelly has been a good-faith negotiator with the current administration.
There is something to that argument. Donnelly voted against tax reform but for Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch. Now he is being pressed by GOP nominee Mike Braun to answer whether he will support the nomination of Gina Haspel to be the next CIA director.
That is a fat pitch down the middle for Donnelly. Asked by the Washington Post where he would come down on the nomination, Donnelly worked advise and consent into his talking points to dismiss Trump attacks.
“I don’t worry about that,” Donnelly said of the political threats. “When the president is right, I’ll be with him every time. But when he’s not, I’ll pass.”
This comes, as the Washington Post noted, Trump is ramping up attacks on the red-state Democrat at a moment when he needs their support. If Donnelly reaches across the aisle to make a deal, he will look bipartisan. If Donnelly opposes Haspel, he will look like he’s hanging tough.
One presidential rally, either way, won’t be enough to end the Democrat. To win in November, Braun will need to go line by line through his voting record and show where Donnelly has differed with the White House.
