Staff Reports
Former President Donald Trump is making moves that could send shivers down the spines of Democrats in places they thought were safely in their blue corner. With campaign rallies set in Democratic bastions such as the Coachella Valley in California and Madison Square Garden in New York City, Trump is proving that he’s not playing it safe. The audacity! While other candidates focus solely on battleground states, Trump is looking to shake the left’s foundation right where it hurts.
This isn’t Trump’s first tango with the blues outside the Rust Belt, which played a critical role in his 2016 win. He’s thrown SALT deductions back into his campaign playbook, showing he hasn’t forgotten the Wall Street crowd in New York or the golden beaches of California. The Democrats might want to keep an eye on that; no one wants Trump knocking on their doors, asking how to keep the deductions that were once anathema to fiscal conservatives.
California dreaming: Why Trump is flirting with blue states https://t.co/aHCHQR3i2J
— 🇺🇸 The Briefing Room 🇺🇸 🇮🇱 (@Briefing__Room) October 11, 2024
The Republican nominee is on a mission, and it raises the question: why bother with blue states that seem impossible to flip this election season? It could be that Trump is wiser than he’s given credit for. He wants Republicans to hold onto the House, and those 10 competitive House races in California and New York are not going to win themselves. There’s a keen awareness that if the Democrats retain power, especially in the House, Trump could find himself facing impeachment as soon as he takes office. Who wouldn’t want a little breathing room?
Moreover, every vote counts. While losing the electoral vote in places like California is a foregone conclusion for Trump, he can still dent the Democrats’ armor. In previous elections, turnout in these deep-blue states has helped cement Democratic victories—who’s to say that a little Trump charisma and effort can’t chip away at their base? Could it be that these rallies are aimed at inspiring Republicans in the heart of liberal land? With the right strategy, Trump could collect a few more popular votes along the way, and that can’t be a bad look.
As for the current poll standings, they show a competitive Trump who is within a hair’s breadth of Vice President Kamala Harris. Unlike the prior cycles, where Trump was trailing significantly in the polls, he’s now locked in a tight race. The Democrats, still riding on their high horse from 2020, might want to reconsider their confidence. If history has taught anything, it’s that Trump often outperforms polling predictions, and Democrats are sweating bullets that their prospects aren’t looking so rosy this time around.
As the 2024 election countdown clocks in at a mere 24 days, there’s plenty of room for theatrics. If Trump’s gamble on blue-state rallies pays off, he’ll have the last laugh while the left is busy scratching their heads, wondering where it all went wrong. In a contest that promises to defy expectations at every turn, maybe those Democratic strongholds will wish they hadn’t taken Trump’s sudden interest quite so lightly.
