Why so flustered, Mike Coffman?
“Mike Coffman knows better than anyone how vulnerable he is, that’s why he’s running for the hills at the mere mention of President Trump,” said DCCC Spokeswoman Rachel Irwin. “Unfortunately for Mike Coffman, no amount of dodging can hide his near-perfect record of advancing the Trump agenda in Washington, which will be a huge liability with Colorado voters this fall.”
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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
House Republicans set terms for Trump to campaign on their turf
By Katie Glueck and Alex Daugherty | May 20, 2018
Rep. Mike Coffman threw his hands in the air and stomped away. Rep. Leonard Lance smiled ruefully as he said the White House was “cross” with him. And Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick cited the uncertainties of his schedule as he stepped into an elevator.
The question of whether endangered GOP candidates want President Donald Trump to campaign with them sparked dodges, lengthy pauses and a cascade of caveats in interviews with about two dozen GOP House members who are facing varying degrees of competition in races this fall.
But the answer several Republicans from tough districts have settled on is, sure — if Trump will campaign on their terms.
“It depends,” said Fitzpatrick, a Republican from a suburban Philadelphia district that Democrats are targeting. “On what issue is he campaigning for me? If he campaigns on term limits — I just met with him on that. If he’s able to get public support behind it, absolutely.”
But would a campaign rally be helpful? “We’ll see, we’ll see what our schedule is looking like,” he said, getting into an elevator at the Capitol.
Rep. David Valadao of California, whose district Hillary Clinton won by nearly 16 percentage points, offered a similar calculation: “If it’s a topic like water or something positive on immigration that actually benefits us — I think if the president of the United States wants to come to the district to highlight something that’s actually helpful to the district, I think it would make sense, but it depends on the topic.”
And Miami-area Republican Rep. Carlos Curbelo, who represents the most Democratic-leaning district in the country held by a Republican running for reelection this year, suggested he would welcome Trump’s help — if he “supports my work.”
“I’m not asking nor have I ever asked anyone to come down and campaign, I don’t need it from anyone,” said Curbelo, who is leading an effort to force votes on immigration-related bills, rankling House conservatives. “The conditions for anyone to support me, to campaign for me, is that they support my work and are helping me achieve it for the benefit of the country.”
Midterm elections are often challenging for the president’s party, and the question of where polarizing presidents can campaign tends to be a fraught one. It’s a reality that has applied to a range of leaders including Presidents George W. Bush in 2006 and Barack Obama in 2010 and 2014, when beleaguered candidates from their respective parties were loathe to make joint appearances or offer public praise.
This year, Trump has emerged as a strong fundraiser for his party, and in the red-state Senate contests where Republicans are playing offense, from Missouri to West Virginia, GOP strategists say he is an asset and their best surrogate for energizing the conservative base.
While Trump remains enormously popular with Republican rank-and-file voters, his presidency has energized progressive activists across the map — and in competitive House districts, especially those that Clinton won, his presence on the campaign trail tethers vulnerable GOP candidates to the national party just as they scramble to localize their races and separate from the Trump-stamped Republican brand.
“It might help get out the base who might not be as fervently for a candidate such as myself,” said retiring GOP Rep. Ryan Costello, who currently represents another Philadelphia-area suburban district Clinton won. “I think, though, it would be a reminder, negatively, to swing voters who view him unfavorably but who I would want to have respond to my message of being an independent check-and-balance.”
Certainly, no one is actively touting the idea that they will oppose Trump showing up in their district — though some, like Lance of New Jersey, suggested such an appearance was unlikely.
“I think that the White House may be cross with me, because I didn’t vote for the health care bill or the tax bill,” he said. “I respect that and I’m going to campaign on my own record.”
Others, like Coffman, who represents a toss-up district in Colorado, wouldn’t entertain the question at all.
“No, I’m not going there,” Coffman said as he rolled his eyes, waving his arms up in frustration. “You got what you needed,” he added, and walked away.
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Read the full story here.