Trump ramps up rally strategy that may come with more risk than reward

NBC "News" / Comcast ^ | October 19, 2020 | By Shannon Pettypiece

[Oldeconomybuyer]

In President Donald Trump’s favored narrative of how elections are won and lost, the candidate who holds the most events with the biggest crowds wins.

"Every RALLY is BOFFO," he said in a Monday tweet about his confidence of winning re-election, telling campaign staffers on a call the same day that he was now more confident of winning than he was two weeks ago, when he appeared at no campaign events while recovering from Covid-19.

Now, with two weeks to go, he heads into the final stretch of the race relying heavily on his rallies to change the dynamic of the contest - a risky strategy for a persistently unpopular candidate, and one that has failed to demonstrate success in moving voters into his column.

In fact, there are no objective indications that Trump's rallies have any relation to boosting his support, with some suggestion they are just as likely to energize his opponents' supporters as they are his own.

In a study of the 2016 race, researchers looked at fundraising on the day of a Trump event and found that in the regions where the events were held, Clinton saw a significantly greater uptick in donations.

A separate study of the 2018 midterm elections found a similar effect, where Trump’s endorsement of congressional candidates in some areas sparked a backlash effect that was ultimately detrimental to those he was backing.

While Trump has done about half the rallies over the past two months compared to the same time in 2016, in those places where he has been aggressively campaigning for re-election his rallies don’t appear to have moved the needle in his direction.

Biden hasn’t held any large, in-person rallies this year, opting for small, social distanced events to show the seriousness with which he is taking the pandemic.

[euram]

Notice how the media is always trying to draw a favorable comparison between Trump’s huge rallies and Biden’s picnics in random backyards and speeches in cornfields.

[Magnum44]

Because not campaigning is working so well for Biden

[backwoods-engineer]

This is nothing but the Fake News trying to remove an advantage that High-Energy Prez Trump has over Slow Joe Hidin.

[xp38]

I think it refers to the economic build back Trump did from the depressing 0 years. The economy came back but it was done in Trump style whereas Biden would do it better supposedly.

[Oldeconomybuyer]

[rktman]

😂📴 "persistently unpopular candidate". WOW! Deluded much? Must have been talking about 'super speader' hVrris. Otherwise I call 🐴💩. Guess they've not been to any rallies.

[1Old Pro]

In a study of the 2016 race, researchers looked at fundraising on the day of a Trump event and found that in the regions where the events were held, Clinton saw a significantly greater uptick in donations.

I hope that is some solace to her.

[rktman]

😂. I missed that.

[SMARTY]

Without knowing how old you are, I'd have to agree.

I am certainly old enough to recall distinctly that there hasn't been a straight-up ‘Republican’ who made me proud to BE a Republican, since Reagan.

For once and for ALL, the ‘Republicans’ must see that they don't NEED to predicate all their policies and plans on a ‘Watergate hangover’ that was lame and old when it started!! THAT was THEN and this is NOW!!

Pleeeeeasse….I mean compared to the wall-to-wall Clinton crud (BTW-STILL going on) and the “O” traveling fraud circus .... your ‘Watergate hangover’ is small stuff!!!

[Oldeconomybuyer]

"UN chief António Guterres, has warned of an “unparalleled economic shock”, as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. So, going forward, can the private sector “build back better” to reorder the post-pandemic world, or, might the UN’s vision of a sustainable future be relegated to a low-priority aspiration?"

Put simply, it means globalism/socialism.

https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/06/1066152

[rktman]

1. It was stolen from some u.n. blurb.

2. Another way of saying MAGA without saying it.

[\/\/ayne]

[Lazamataz]

Now, with two weeks to go, he heads into the final stretch of the race relying heavily on his rallies to change the dynamic of the contest - a risky strategy for a persistently unpopular candidate, and one that has failed to demonstrate success in moving voters into his column.

I'm old enough to remember when news articles didn't become rank opinion pieces.

At least the fake-news chick's name is right: Shannon Pettypiece

But I would suggest a name change, to better reflect her writing: Fakenews ShittyOpinionWriter.

[rktman]

“What flavor did you get?” Yet another hardball to can’t-i-date byeDUHn.

[Lazamataz]

Jesus.

My mom warned me, decades ago: Never hang around a woman with thin lips.

Anyone kissing that bimbo would freakin' bleed out.

[LIConFem]

I wish them good luck with that as well. They know the sword of Damocles is about to drop right on their fetid, diseased Marxist heads.

[carton253]

Laz,

You’ve been on Free Republic long enough to know that you aren’t supposed to take the Lord’s name in vain.

Please stop. You are one of my favorite Freepers and I don’t want to have to skip over your posts.

Thanks.

[Hojczyk]

There all fools...rallies get Trump good local news coverage..video showing people standing in line and people at the rally..and reports from the rally.not like national coverage

[Abbeville Conservative]

And most of them outright reject as their spines still resemble those of jellyfish.

[Vaduz]

Note they deleted the spam poster