Trump's midterm pitch: Vote for me

The president is not on the ballot until 2020 — but he’s asking supporters to imagine his future is at stake this November.

By CHRISTOPHER CADELAGO 10/10/2018 05:22 AM EDT

President Donald Trump, who as a candidate warned that he alone could fix the nation’s ills, is making the midterms a referendum on the one thing he appears most comfortable talking about: himself.

While Trump is not personally facing reelection until 2020, he is asking supporters to suspend their disbelief and imagine that his head is on the chopping block. The president is telling thousands of devotees at his rallies that a vote for Republicans is really “a vote for me and ‘Make America Great Again.’”

“I’m not on the ballot,” Trump conceded to the crowd in Southhaven, Miss. “But in a certain way, I’m on the ballot. So, please go out and vote.”

Presidents seldom lean in so far ahead of their first midterm election, fearing that an embarrassing rebuke could weaken their public esteem and presage disaster for their reelection bids. But Trump often personalizes events and tends to approach issues through the lens of his own experiences. He’s also shown little concern for shifting responsibility when the situation deteriorates.

Trump is expected to continue the “me-centric” strategy at rallies in Erie, Pa., on Wednesday, Lebanon, Ohio, on Friday and Richmond, Ky., on Saturday — giving voice to what White House officials and Republicans close to the president believe is their best hope to counteract a Democratic wave, based on polling, but one opponents and some in the GOP contend could backfire by alienating middle-of-road and marginal district voters.

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https://www.politico.com/story/2018/10/10/trump-midterm-pitch-886196