Trump's Mississippi visit is story of his campaign: focused on money, not votes

Candidate’s trip through deep red states rather than battleground
ones is a quintessential move – favoring habit over conventional
political wisdom

Matthew Teague in Jackson, Mississippi
Wednesday 24 August 2016 15.00 BST

Although thousands of supporters will turn out for Donald Trump’s rally Wednesday in Mississippi, the real purpose for his visit to the state will quietly happen an hour earlier: a $1,000-per-person fundraiser at an undisclosed location.

Money is the only explanation for Trump’s continued swing through deep red states, according to operatives on both the left and the right.

Traditionally, a candidate with just over two months until an election would focus on battleground states, or states with large populations and value in the electoral college: Florida, Iowa, New York, the Rust Belt states and others. Florida boasts 29 electoral votes, for instance, while Mississippi has six.

But Trump’s arrival in Mississippi on the heels of a trip to Texas is a quintessential Trump move: splashy, expensive and defying conventional political wisdom.

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