Trump campaign works without a bounce
The Trump campaign was buoyed by initial polling showing a modest convention bounce after the president and Vice President Mike Pence accepted renomination, especially heartened by signs that the race may be tightening in Pennsylvania. But as the Republican National Convention faded into the rearview mirror, national surveys by Quinnipiac University and USA Today/Suffolk University continued to show solid leads for Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.
Still, Trump’s supporters believe that Republicans put their best foot forward at the convention, which featured former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, first lady Melania Trump, and a variety of GOP heavy hitters. They have also settled on a message: Trump gets things done even if the process sometimes looks messy, and Biden will unleash the radical Left on the country. It’s an argument they’re particularly trying to hone as racial justice demonstrations turn violent in cities such as Portland, Oregon, and Kenosha, Wisconsin, forcing the Biden campaign to spend time and political capital distancing itself from the rioting.
“When you talk to Trump supporters about his record, they will talk about things like a booming economy, standing up to China and other countries that try to take advantage of the United States, reducing the flow of illegal immigration while creating conditions that disincentivize those who would consider coming here illegally, and putting the interests of America before global harmony,” said Dennis Darnoi, a Republican strategist in Michigan. “If you talk to someone who does not support Trump, they will take the same issues listed above and come to far different conclusions. They see Trump as using his official position for personal, self-serving reasons. They see someone who fans the flames of racism and xenophobia as a means to political preservation and as reflective of a personal belief.”
It’s a battle over a shrinking number of undecided voters. “God bless the pollster who can find a voter who is still uncertain on where they stand [two months] out from the election,” Darnoi said. – by W. James Antle III
Biden campaign tries to flip the script
Joe Biden mounted a major shift in tone on riots and violent clashes at protests in an attempt to flip President Trump’s argument about safety and destruction back onto him.
But Republicans aren’t backing down from their arguments, and Biden’s continued focus on Kenosha, Wisconsin, indicates that he doesn’t think he put the issue to rest.
Biden long ago condemned looting, arson, and violence that sprung out of “Black Lives Matter” protests, but he largely focused on supporting police reform. He brushed off Trump’s argument that unrest in Democrat-controlled cities would spread with Biden in the White House.
Riots that erupted in Kenosha following the police shooting of Jacob Blake, amplified by Republicans at their televised convention, made Democrats nervous that Trump’s message would catch on.
In one of his firmest speeches yet, Biden, speaking from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on Monday, painted Republicans as ridiculous. “Do I look like a radical socialist with a soft spot for rioters? Really?” he said. And he argued that it is Trump’s rhetoric that prompted 17-year-old vigilante Kyle Rittenhouse to take up arms late at night on the streets of Kenosha last week, where police say he shot two people dead.
“Does anyone believe there’d be less violence in America if Donald Trump is reelected?” Biden asked.
Subsequent Biden campaign moves indicate that public safety issues will stay at the forefront of the election.
Democrats and Republicans released dueling ads showing fiery destruction, each accusing the other side of creating an environment where violence thrives: “This is Trump’s America” versus Republicans pushing voters to “extinguish the fire” that Democrats started.
After days of speculation about whether Biden should visit Kenosha and his declining to do so earlier in the week, he traveled there on Thursday, hoping to contrast Trump’s Tuesday visit and tour of the destruction there. Biden met with Blake’s family and recalled his mother saying that she was praying not only for her son but “praying for the policemen, as well.” – by Emily Larsen
House of Representatives: Will voters overlook David Schweikert’s ethical issues?
Rep. David Schweikert is about to find out how forgiving his suburban Phoenix constituents are over an admission he misused campaign funds.
The House on July 31 reprimanded the Arizona Republican after an investigation found a series of campaign finance irregularities. Schweikert, first elected to the House in 2010, admitted to 11 rules violations and agreed to pay a $50,000 fine.
Now, Schweikert, 58, is two months off from facing voters in Arizona’s 6th District, which includes most of northern Phoenix, as well as Scottsdale, Paradise Valley, and the Cave Creek. The district includes swaths of voters who have voted Republican for decades, some going back to the Barry Goldwater days. The Cook Political Report gives it a plus-9 Republican lean, and President Trump beat Hillary Clinton there in 2016, 52% to 42%.
But like much of Arizona, demographics are shifting, reflected in the attention Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s campaign is giving the Grand Canyon State. And many local Republicans have voiced concerns about Trump’s temperament and behavior. All of which, when combined with Schweikert’s ethics troubles, have created an opening for his Democratic opponent, physician Hiral Tipirneni.
The campaign arm for House Democrats claimed in early August that Tipirneni was only 3 points behind the incumbent. And, not surprisingly, she’s hitting Schweikert hard over his campaign finance foibles.
But Tiperneni doesn’t exactly have a stellar political track record. In 2018, Tipirneni ran twice for the 8th District House seat, which takes in many of the suburbs north and west of Phoenix, in Maricopa County. She lost to now-Rep. Debbie Lesko, a Republican, in a special election for a vacancy and the general election. – by David Mark
Senate: In Iowa, Republican Joni Ernst and Democrat Theresa Greenfield have plenty of money to spend
Swing state Iowa has returned with a vengeance after voting in a landslide for President Trump four years ago, with Republican Sen. Joni Ernst finding herself in a toss-up battle for reelection against Democratic challenger Theresa Greenfield.
Greenfield, who ran for Congress in 2018, entered the summer with $5.7 million to spend against Ernst. The Republican incumbent began the same period with an impressive $9.1 million in cash on hand. But with so much money pouring into the Iowa Senate race from third-party groups aligned with Greenfield and Ernst, both candidates should have the resources they need to be competitive by the time voters begin mailing in absentee ballots next month.
Just before Labor Day, Ernst was forced to backtrack after speculating that the U.S. coronavirus death count is significantly less than the 180,000 figure widely accepted by government and health officials, issuing a statement in which she reaffirmed her agreement with those numbers. Meanwhile, Greenfield has avoided taking questions from the press and shunned offers to debate Ernst, while at times looking wholly unprepared to discuss major issues she might have to address as a senator.
Ernst and Greenfield are tracking with the top of the ticket, where Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden are in a pick ‘em race for Iowa’s six Electoral College votes. – by David M. Drucker
