California dreaming: Why Trump is flirting with blue states
By
W. James Antle III
October 11, 2024 8:00 am
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Former President Donald Trump has raised eyebrows with his decision to hold campaign rallies deep in Democratic territory, including appearances in Coachella Valley, California, and Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Yet it is not the first time Trump has paid attention to the blue states outside of the highly competitive Rust Belt, the region that, for him, was the difference between victory in 2016 and defeat in 2020. Trump’s embrace of SALT deductions, undoing his own handiwork from the 2017 tax law, is an overture to New Yorkers and Californians.
Candidate time is a valuable commodity, so why is Trump spending time worrying about voters in states he has no chance of carrying this year as the presidential campaign enters its final weeks? The Republican nominee risks repeating the mistake of his 2016 rival Hillary Clinton, who should have spent more time in Wisconsin, and Richard Nixon, who wasted time in a close race by fulfilling his promise to visit all 50 states ahead of the 1960 election.
But there are at least 10 competitive House races in California and New York. The path to the current razor-thin Republican House majority two years ago ran through these two blue states. Trump wants Republicans to retain control of the House. Not only would this help him govern if elected, but it is possible a Democratic majority in the House would try to impeach him as early as Inauguration Day.
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https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/campaigns/presidential/3185302/why-trump-is-flirting-with-blue-states/
