Liz Cheney\u2002<\/u><\/a>(R-Wyo.) across the swing states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin on Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\nBut it\u2019s Trump who has a slight edge in the extraordinarily tight race for the White House.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The battleground state polling averages maintained by The Hill and Decision Desk HQ (DDHQ) currently have Trump leading in five of the crucial seven states, albeit by very small margins, while the other two states \u2014 Nevada and Wisconsin \u2014 are tied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
DDHQ now gives Trump a 52 percent chance of prevailing on Nov. 5, a marked reversal from Harris\u2019s high point of 57 percent right after the Democratic National Convention in late August. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump ramped up his headline-grabbing behavior \u2014 for good or bad \u2014 this past weekend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Sunday, he created a huge media moment for himself by working the fryer and drive-thru line at a Pennsylvania McDonald\u2019s. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Critics carped that the event was staged, given that the restaurant was closed down while Trump was there. But Republicans hailed the gambit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGoing to McDonald\u2019s was a great campaign photo op that really punched through to people because it was just something new and different,\u201d said GOP strategist Ron Bonjean. \u201cThe message it sent was, \u2018I\u2019m more like you than you think.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump\u2019s other antics looked more likely to come with significant downside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Over the course of just one rally in Latrobe, Pa., on Saturday, Trump referred to Harris as \u201ca s\u001e\u001e\u001e vice president\u201d and \u2014 even more bizarrely \u2014 segued into expressing admiration for the size of the late golfer Arnold Palmer\u2019s manhood. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis is a guy that was all man,\u201d Trump said of Palmer, who won seven major titles and died in 2016. \u201cThis man was strong and tough. And I refuse to say it, but when he took showers with the other pros, they came out of there, they said, \u2018Oh, my god, that\u2019s unbelievable.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Profanity and gaucheness are hardly surprising from Trump. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He has at various times in his political life suggested a female debate moderator asked him tough questions because she was menstruating, attacked the looks of female opponents and, while president, was reported to have referred to a number of majority-Black nations as \u201cs\u001e\u001e\u001ehole countries.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That leaves some Republicans \u2014 including Trump skeptics \u2014 offering a rueful shoulder shrug at his recent behavior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhy is he doing it? Why do you swim if you\u2019re in the water? Because it\u2019s instinctual \u2014 that\u2019s just what he does,\u201d said Dan Judy, a GOP strategist who is often critical of Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIs it wise \u2014 especially the vulgarity? It certainly isn\u2019t going to appeal to any voters who are left to persuade,\u201d Judy added. \u201cBut [that view] is predicated on the idea that there are voters left to persuade. We\u2019re actually at a time when both sides are concentrating on turning out their base voters. And his people are coming out. We know that and we\u2019ve always known that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In trying to expand beyond the MAGA base, Trump is pursuing an unusual course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As a general rule, politicians try to broaden their appeal by moderating their positions \u2014 much as Harris has done in stepping away from her previous support for, among other things, a ban on fracking and decriminalizing unauthorized border crossings.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nTrump, however, is doubling down on his fervently hard line on immigration while also putting forth a range of populist economic proposals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
His promises include making several income streams \u2014 tipped income, overtime pay and Social Security benefits \u2014 tax exempt, while also making interest payments on car loans tax deductible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump\u2019s signature economic policy calls for the application of large tariffs on global imports, with especially draconian rates on imports from China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The ideas are aimed at winning over working-class voters, even as they offend traditional fiscal conservatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Challenged last week by a prominent financial journalist over his tariffs and tax cut proposals, Trump said The Wall Street Journal \u2014 whose editorials are a key platform for fiscal conservatism \u2014 had been \u201cwrong about everything.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Those moves appear to be having some effect. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
White voters without a college education are the bedrock of Trump\u2019s support. Latterly, there has also been concern in Democratic circles about an erosion of the party\u2019s traditional support among young Black and Latino men, in particular.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump critics would argue that his efforts will come undone in the end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They insist that his rhetoric is off-putting to millions of Americans \u2014 perhaps especially moderate, suburban women with whom the GOP already faces challenges after the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade in 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Harris has also repeatedly contended that Trump\u2019s role in the Capitol riot of Jan. 6, 2021, is disqualifying \u2014 and that the former president\u2019s self-centered nature renders him uninterested in finding real solutions to the challenges facing working Americans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But for now, for all the firestorms that he ignites, Trump looks like he could be on the cusp of a second term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
thehill<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Trump appears to believe that the benefits of revving up his base will outweigh any detrimental impact on swing voters. Vice President Harris is pursuing a more orthodox strategy, backing away from previous progressive positions and touting the support of figures from the other side of the partisan divide as she seeks to appeal to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":33732,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[30899,22356,30898,1230],"class_list":["post-33731","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-populist","tag-re-election","tag-rude","tag-trump"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33731","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=33731"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33731\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33733,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33731\/revisions\/33733"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/33732"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=33731"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=33731"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=33731"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}