Trump Visiting Blue States During Final Days of Election Cycle
When I saw Donald Trump’s recent campaign schedule, I was baffled as to why he would hold campaign events in states like New York, New Mexico, and Virginia so close to the election.
After all, Trump’s fate lies within seven very specific states, but now it is starting to make sense… sort of.
President for All Americans
Donald Trump has often stated on the campaign trail that if he is elected, he will be the president “for all of America, not half of America.” And that would appear to be part of the reason he is making these odd stops as election day draws near.
Trump has also stated, “The discord and division in our society must be healed,” but that is awfully hard to do during a campaign. Democrats have been adamant they are going to go negative down the stretch, which forces Trump to do the same, so the rhetoric continues to spew from both sides.
Dems have taken this to a new level, however, equating Donald Trump to Hitler. Some pundits and Dems even went so far as to say that Trump’s recent New York City rally at Madison Square Garden was akin to the 1939 Nazi rally that was held there.
Trump’s campaign did itself no favors on that front by having an insult-roast comic open for Trump at the event. When he told a joke equating Puerto Rico to “floating garbage,” what could have been a huge win for Trump turned into more fuel to the racist accusations levied against Trump.
Trump Visiting New Mexico and Virginia
This week, it was announced that Donald Trump would be stopping in New Mexico for a campaign stop. This is a state where Trump has no chance to win; he is currently down 9% in polling. He was also announced that he would be stopping in Virginia, another state that Trump is unlikely to win. Currently, Trump is trailing Harris by 8% in that state.
When it was announced that Trump would be visiting New Mexico, Democrats went after him. For instance, Democratic Party of New Mexico spokesperson Daniel Garcia stated, "Trump is wasting his time coming to our state as polling shows New Mexicans are set to reject his MAGA extremism and divisive rhetoric yet again.” This will be the first time in five years that Trump has visited the state.
Trump somehow still thinks he can win Virginia, having recently told another rally crowd, "We have a really good chance to win Virginia – hasn’t been won in decades by a [GOP] presidential candidate.” Governor Glenn Youngkin backed that up, but what else is he supposed to do if he wants Trump to visit?
Veteran Virginia-based political scientist David Richards of the University of Lynchburg thinks he has figured this out, stating, "But I think he has bigger ambitions by coming to central Virginia. I think he wants to capitalize on the judicial decision to reinstate voters who have not met the citizenship requirements or had not checked the correct box, and were picked up by a general sweep of registered voters in Virginia.
"This plays into his general story about illegal immigrants trying to vote in the election. I think he is seeking a national audience, not necessarily just a Virginia audience, by coming and doing a rally here."
Down Ballot Elections
The only possible reason I can think of to justify this move by Trump is to support down-ballot tickets. And if that is the case, then Trump is pretty smart for two very different reasons.
First, this backs Trump’s narrative about being a president for all Americans, especially this close to the election. It will not be lost on voters that Trump is spending time in states he will lose when he could and should be focused on the battleground states that will determine the outcome of this election.
Second, Trump also needs down-ballot Republicans to win so they can flip the Senate and expand their lead in the House. If not, he gets nothing passed. So, if there is a candidate on the ballot in these states, you better believe that Trump will do what he can to get them elected as long as they support his agenda.
