People have short memories. The very first GOP incumbent running for reelection endorsed by Trump was Renee Ellmers in North Carolina. Aside from doing his carnival barker routine on Twitter, Trump recorded a robocall for her, which went out to every Republican voter in NC-02. All the far right groups backed George Holding but Trump gambled his reputation as a king-maker and party strong man on opposing them and backing Ellmers. She had been one of the first members of Congress (and the first woman member) to fully embrace his narcissistic-- not to mention racist, xenophobic and misogynistic-- campaign. Aside from Holding's own family SuperPAC, the American Foundations Committee, putting $330,580 into the race, the Koch brothers' Americans for Prosperity threw in $205,794 and the Club for Growth threw $787,841 into the red hot primary. Three other extremist groups, FreedomWorks, the Tea Party Patriots and the Susan B Anthony List, the lunatic fringe GOP version of EMILY's List, also jumped in to attack Ellmers. Four days before primary day Trump gave Ellmers the robocall you can hear below. He didn't give her any money or even pay for the call, but his backing for her was seen as a test of what his name meant to Republican primary voters. Although he did well in his own primary in North Carolina, he didn't do great in the Raleigh suburbs which make up much of this district. Ted Cruz had beated him in Franklin, Nash, Wilson, Chatham and Johnston counties. Ellmers lost— very badly. 5 of the 6 counties in the district went to Holding.
• George Holding- 53.38%• Renee Ellmers- 23.64%• Greg Brannon- 22.99%
You’d never know it from all his bragging and gas lighting, but the Trump kiss of death extended into the general election last Tuesday. 70.9% of the candidates Trump endorsed lost to Democrats— all candidates he either held rallies for or sent out one or more of his one-size-fits-all distinctive tweets for— 39 newly dead Republican candidates, although as counting continues, several more Trump-backed candidates are losing and his win-lose number will likely be 25/75% before the end of the week. Big Trump losers in the House include Dan Donovan (NY), Karen Handel (GA), his boy Danny Tarkanian (NV), Dave Brat (VA), Kevin Yoder (KS), Randy Hultgren (IL), Katie Arrington (SC), Keith Rothfus (PA), Pete Sessions (TX), Claudia Tenney (NY), Erik Paulsen, Rod Blum (IA), John Faso (NY), Lena Epstein (MI), Mike Bishop (MI), as well as:Yesterday, Politico gave their readers what they billed as a Sneak peek at the House Democrats’ agenda and it wasn’t only about defeating Trump in 2020. At least not according to Patriot Majority, a Clinton-oriented outfit and SuperPAC. That video below is their ad that debuted on the Sunday talking heads shows today. It will run through Thanksgiving in what they described as a six-figure TV ad buy. No mention of Medicare-For-All or… PAYGO.>
