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Arnon Mishkin: Trump’s refusal to appeal to centrists could make Biden president and give Dems Senate majority

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Former Vice President Joe Biden is getting help in his presidential campaign from a surprising source — President Trump. Rather than trying to appeal to…
Former Vice President Joe Biden is getting help in his presidential campaign from a surprising source — President Trump.
Rather than trying to appeal to centrist voters — moderate Republicans, independents and moderate Democrats — to widen his base of support, Trump is doubling down on his most extreme positions in an effort to boost turnout by his most fervent supporters in November.
In addition to posing grave risks to the president’s reelection chances, this unconventional strategy increases the chances Democrats will capture majority control of the Senate and expand their majority in the House of Representatives.
As coronavirus infections and deaths continue to mount, Trump continues to downplay the pandemic – contributing to his receiving around 40 percent support in most national polls of the presidential race, while Biden gets around 50 percent.
News reports say that if Trump continues in his current weak position in September, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., will advise his members that they need to separate from Trump in order to win reelection — especially in tough campaigns facing Republican Sens. Martha McSally in Arizona, Cory Gardner in Colorado, Joni Ernst in Iowa, Susan Collins in Maine, Steve Daines in Montana, Tom Tillis in North Carolina, and possibly even David Purdue in Georgia and John Cornyn in Texas.
Trump had expected to center his reelection campaign on the strong economy and low unemployment rate that the U. S. enjoyed until spring. But the coronavirus pandemic sent the economy into a tailspin, with unemployment soaring to the highest levels since the Great Depression.
Many voters say they disapprove of Trump’s actions regarding the pandemic including: making overly optimistic predictions, urging businesses and schools to reopen quickly, criticizing governors and mayors who want to take a go-slow approach, refusing to wear a mask, and staging campaign rallies for thousands of people with no social distancing.
In addition, Trump has strongly defended Confederate monuments and retaining names of Confederate leaders on military bases — positions even many Republicans disagree with.
And rather than emphasizing the need for racial reconciliation, the president continues to demonize people who have engaged in protests and rioting following the Memorial Day killing of George Floyd, a handcuffed Black man who died in the custody of Minneapolis police when an officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.

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