New York: President Donald Trump has placed racial animus at the center of his reelection campaign, and even some of his critics believe it could deliver him a second term.
Every successful modern presidential campaign has been built on the notion of addition, winning over voters beyond core supporters. But Trump has chosen division on the belief that the polarised country he leads will simply choose sides over issues like race.
He intensified his attacks on Wednesday, blasting four young congresswomen of color during a rally in Greenville, North Carolina.
The crowd responded by chanting, “Send her back!” echoing Trump’s weekend tweet in which he said the lawmakers — all American citizens — should “go back” to the country from which they came.
“I do think I am winning the political fight,” Trump declared at the White House. “I think I am winning it by a lot.”
Though Trump’s comments generated outrage and even a resolution of condemnation in the House, the president and his campaign believe the strategy carries far more benefits than risks.
Trump believes his inflammatory rhetoric will strengthen his support among the white working class and attract a new group of disaffected voters who fear cultural changes across America. That approach is likely to face significant headwinds in those three key battleground states that he won by a combined 78,000 votes in 2016.
Democrats will be far more aggressive in targeting female and minority voters. Most analysts agree the potential universe of Democratic-leaning voters is larger, if they turn out. Trump is betting they will not.
Trump has proved adroit at crafting a hero-villain narrative and is now focusing on Reps. His challenge will be whether he can drive that story line successfully for the next 16 months.
Trump aides and allies acknowledge that many voters may find the president’s comments objectionable, but for the voters they need in 2020, it may actually be an energising force.
Those who already believe Trump is a racist and unfit for the presidency will not vote for him in the first place. For voters in the middle, Trump’s team believes they can be sufficiently scared off the progressive agenda to cast votes for Trump, or at worst, stay home in dispiritedness that neither party speaks to their issues.
And for many others who did not vote at all in 2016, there is hope that his dramatic presidency, backed by fear of Democrats’ leftward lurch, will persuade them to show up at the ballot box. (PTI)
