Trump jumps into Ohio special election as GOP alarm grows

[jpak]

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/07/31/trump-ohio-special-election-753326

President Donald Trump will travel to Ohio on Saturday to campaign for Republican special election candidate Troy Balderson, according to a senior party official — a move that comes amid rising GOP fears about the race.

A Republican loss, coming after special election defeats in Pennsylvania and Alabama, would be deeply deflating for the conservative base and party donors, and provide more evidence that a wave is building against them heading into the midterms.

National Republicans have bombarded the suburban Columbus district with more than $3.3 million in TV ads in an effort to boost Balderson, a state legislator, and attack his Democratic opponent, Danny O’Connor, ahead of the Aug. 7 special election. They are battling to replace longtime GOP Rep. Pat Tiberi, who resigned last fall.

While Trump has so far focused his campaigning in conservative states, he has largely stayed away from suburban areas, where he’s less popular and the battle for control of the House is largely being fought. The president received 52 percent of the vote in the district in 2016.

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[kimbutgar]

1. Why so much interest in an election the candidate will have for only 6 months?

So much money the repukes are really scared of this loss.

[no_hypocrisy]

2. It's not the candidate per se. It's the demographics of the audience.

Trump will need their support for 2020.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

3. It's a bit of a barometer on who has the momentum. . . . nt

[kimbutgar]

4. I thought about this more and I think the repukes are trying out all their tricks to see what works

We are going to see some nasty shit in the next few days.

[Initech]

5. Same reason a baseball team blows $100 millon on a star player for six months.

They think it will help them reach the championship but in reality it probably won't.