Behind Pence’s plan to rescue the Republican majority in 2018
In an exclusive interview, the vice president said the GOP could expand its majorities in Congress with his team’s campaign strategy.

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. — Vice President Mike Pence is launching one of the most aggressive campaign strategies in recent White House history: He will hopscotch the country over the next three months, making nearly three dozen stops that could raise tens of millions of dollars for House and Senate Republicans, all while promoting the party's legislative accomplishments.

. . . “Elections are about choices,” he said in the interview, in which he discussed his midterm outlook in detail for the first time. “If we frame that choice, I think we’re going to reelect majorities in the House and the Senate, and I actually think we’re going to, when all the dust settles after 2018, I think we’re going to have more Republicans in Congress in Washington, D.C., than where we started.”

The vice president’s team has devised a unique ancillary strategy to support his cross-country campaigning: partnering with America First Policies — a Trump-backed public-policy nonprofit group designed to boost the president's agenda — to hold public events designed specifically to discuss legislative achievements like the tax bill.

. . . Pence vowed to take sharp aim at congressional Democrats in red states who oppose the president’s agenda. On Wednesday, he used a public event here to remind West Virginia voters that “Joe voted no” on tax cuts — a shot at Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.).

. . . “I know that conventional wisdom says that the first midterm election for the party in the White House is challenging — but you know what President Trump thinks of conventional wisdom,” Pence said.

“I was in that campaign in 2016,” Pence added. “I’ll never forget how many times we were treated to the latest polling that showed that the race was all but decided. But I never believed it. And I’ve got the same feeling right now.”