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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsGOP worried their Ohio voters are on vacation and unaware of special election
stay on vacation until Wednesday repubs, enjoy your vacation!Democrats surging on eve of pivotal special election
Republicans have deployed the full machinery of the party to avoid defeat in the final special election before the midterms.
By ALEX ISENSTADT 08/05/2018 05:22 PM EDT Updated 08/05/2018 10:36 PM EDT
WESTERVILLE, OHIO The entire Republican Party machinery has converged on this suburban Columbus district for a furious eleventh-hour campaign aimed at saving a conservative House seat and averting another special election disaster.
But in the final days ahead of Tuesday's election, signs were everywhere that Democrats are surging from recent polling to the private and public statements of many Republicans, including the GOP candidate himself. The district has been reliably red for more than three decades, but the sheer size of the Republican cavalry made clear how worried the party is about losing it.
At a Saturday evening rally, President Donald Trump tried to juice conservative excitement for mild-mannered Republican candidate Troy Balderson while foisting a Trumpian nickname upon 31-year-old Democratic hopeful Danny OConnor: Danny boy. Earlier in the week, Vice President Mike Pence made the trek, while Trumps son Donald Trump Jr. recorded a robocall, and Gov. John Kasich endorsed Balderson in a TV ad.
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Republicans contend that their mobilization headaches are being compounded by the unusual timing of the race. Many voters are on vacation or going about their summers and unaware of the special election.
With that in mind, White House officials, who have been watching the contest with growing worry, dispatched Trump to the district in the hope he can fire up conservatives who might stay home on Tuesday. The president, who advisers said was eager to jump into the special election, lavished praise on Balderson while also offering up a greatest-hits like collection of attacks on the media, political rivals and the Russia investigation.
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/05/ohio-special-election-democrats-764337
Mister Ed
(5,943 posts)I'll say that for 'em. Fox and Rush keep 'em all cranked up and, by golly, they get out and vote.
If there are fewer of them doing that in this once-reliably conservative district, then I think it's a sign that the ranks of conservatives are thinning.
BumRushDaShow
(129,341 posts)keithbvadu2
(36,871 posts)If Balderson should lose, Donald will abandon and denigrate him as a 'poor' candidate like he did to Roy Moore and Ed Gillespie.
Balderson Said He Didn't Invite Trump To Ohio Rally
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10142127213
BUT - it is a unique excuse, put in place as a preemptive strike.
Takket
(21,611 posts)rpannier
(24,333 posts)Takket
(21,611 posts)Why dont both sides just worry about November? Many more will come out then so that is the group of voters to target.
bearsfootball516
(6,377 posts)Whoever wins will be known as the "winner", have momentum.
Sancho
(9,070 posts)not sure why, but the snowbirds seems to have stayed over the summer more than usual.
Botany
(70,559 posts).... and a big slap in the face to Trump.
BTW when Trump came to town to campaign for Balderson they switched venues
for him from the Delaware County, Fairgrounds which can seat 25,000 + to a high
school gym that seats maybe 1,500.
Alpeduez21
(1,755 posts)Botany
(70,559 posts).... seating. The Fairground hosts one of the biggest harness races in America, The Little
Brown Jug, and it has lots and lots of seats. BTW reports from the Trump rally was that
a lot of the people who attended it were not from the 12 district where the race is being
run.
Alpeduez21
(1,755 posts)is TV makes it look like the room is packed and large. MSM never mentions the venue was changed. Never really discusses the smaller crowd sizes. They participate in the chicanery that this is all normal. I haven't felt normal for awhile.
Plus they show him spouting his lies as if he is a legitimate president but that is another thread.
Guilded Lilly
(5,591 posts)ratings and all doncha know.
This high school gymnasium was reported to also have a failing air conditioning system at the rally so normal celebrating-the-Cretin antics were apparently rather subdued.
I actually had to Google a question about where the rally had been held because not much was made of it locally as far as I could tell/hear.
People were far more interested in the State Fair.
Guilded Lilly
(5,591 posts)and also working in an area not far from Delaware County, I can believe that easily. I only heard one mention of the rally at all and that was because of the failing air conditioning at the auditorium! There are a lot of pockets of voters not eligible to vote the special election because of district lines.
I also am a poll worker. During our practice session it was mentioned that turn-out expectancy was not particularly high. While a bit more attention had been building, Back to school, some humid weather coming in and summer vacations were part of the distractions. It will be an interesting day for sure.
(I did, however, hear two separate OConner radio ads on NPR on the way to the Board of Elections and one again as I was heading back home! Very positive, upbeat high road ads from OConner, himself, focused on how he would benefit the average Joe and Jenny public. No mention/slamming of his opponent, just calm, classy hopeful messages.)
bucolic_frolic
(43,254 posts)Absentee impostors would be a huge political find at the ballot box
3Hotdogs
(12,400 posts)marble falls
(57,152 posts)bearsfootball516
(6,377 posts)Just like when Connor Lamb won PA-18.
Oh, Rick Saccone was a boring candidiate, this isnt indicative of a national trend...
riversedge
(70,275 posts)Wounded Bear
(58,691 posts)I thought they were all unemployed because of the disastrous Obama economy.
gratuitous
(82,849 posts)For decades, Republicans have worked to eliminate paid time off for the proles, whether it's vacation or sick time. The idea of working people just lolling around for two whole days out of every seven just sends them into a rage. And now the ultimate betrayal - Republican voters missing a special election because they're on vacation! To the barricades, boys! Time to stamp out the pestilence of paid time off once and for all.