Not exactly the Midas Touch
Last Tuesday night, the eyes of the nation were on Pennsylvania’s 18th Congressional District.
It’s not that the result of that special election would have earth-shattering consequences.
Not at all.
By November, the state will have brand new congressional districts, and most of the 18th will disappear and become the 14th. (It’s all very complicated, isn’t it?)
But the special election was something of a bellwether of Donald Trump’s hold on his political base, or his failure to hold it.
By most measurements, it was the latter.
Trump clobbered Hillary Clinton in that district by nearly 20 points in 2016.
Democrats didn’t even bother to run candidates in the 18th during the previous two general elections.
But Rick Saccone, the charisma-deficient guy who called himself “Trump before Trump was Trump,” failed to deliver.
It’s not like Trump didn’t try to drag Saccone across the finish line.
He’d come to Western Pennsylvania twice on his behalf.
On his second visit, though, three days before the election, he put on a show in which he hardly ever mentioned the guy who was actually running for office.
It was the typical Trump performance; long on self-congratulation and insults – short on substance. And then it was, “Oh, I really like what’s-his-name” – he may well have said.
And worse, it was reported that Trump had, before any ballots were cast, quietly complained that Saccone had been a “terrible,” “weak” candidate.
By many accounts Saccone had been one.
On his final day on the campaign trail, Saccone decided he’d define Democrats, or anybody who would support his opponent.
“They have a hatred for our president. They have a hatred for our country. They have a hatred for God,” he told his followers at a rally.
If that seemed like the sad battle cry of a desperate candidate, it probably was.
Could be that Saccone realized Trump’s two visits to western Pennsylvania, as well as visits by Mike Pence, Trump’s daughter Ivanka, and his son Donald, Jr., White House Advisor Kellyanne Conway and even Trump’s Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, weren’t really improving his chances for victory.
In fact, he’d seen his 10-point lead in January fritter-away to a toss-up by early March.
And he may have figured that Trump’s endorsements haven’t exactly caused his endorsees to be anything but unemployed after he supported them.
Back in November, he endorsed Ed Gillespie for governor of Virginia.
Gillespie lost to Democrat Ralph Northam.
Trump backed Alabama’s ex-Attorney General, Luther Strange, in a primary election for a successor to former U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions.
After Strange lost, Trump supported the Republican who beat him, Roy Moore, who lost to Democrat Doug Jones – making him Alabama’s first Democratic U.S. Senator since 1992.
Trump doesn’t exactly have the Midas Touch when it comes to supporting his fellow Republican candidates, does he?
This year, when there’s already talk about the distinct possibility that Democrats could retake control of the U.S. House, many Republicans are running scared.
They understand that mid-term elections are always tough-going for party-members of sitting presidents.
So, at least 42 Republicans in Congress have already announced their retirements, or resignations so far.
They also know, even if they don’t admit it publicly, that Trump’s low poll numbers make their uphill climbs even more steep.
That’s why an upstart Democrat named Conor Lamb stood toe-to-toe with a Trump-endorsed candidate, and he managed to defeat the odds.
It’s ironic that on the morning of the election, Trump posted a tweet that said, “The Economy is raging, at an all-time high, and is set to get even better. Jobs and wages up. Vote for Rick Saccone and keep it going!”
The following day, Trump failed to tweet about it.
Republicans everywhere were straining to find excuses for Lamb’s stunning victory, and Saccone’s loss.
They blamed everything from Saccone’s weak performance, to Lamb’s outspending Saccone, or his supposedly insincere moderate views.
The one thing Republicans avoided mentioning is something that appears to be obvious.
Donald J. Trump has anything but the Midas Touch.
Edward A. Owens is a multi-Emmy Award winner, former reporter and anchor for Entertainment Tonight and 20-year TV news veteran. Email him at freedoms@bellatlantic.net.