Public Opinion Strategies‘ Glen Bolger, a top Republican pollster, on former President Trump’s strategy when it comes to endorsements:
“I don’t know whether he is letting emotion rule his decision making or if he is getting bad advice,” explained Glen Bolger. “But it seems like he is picking candidates who are pretty weak, and that’s not a place — when you’re trying to be kingpin — where you want to be.” [Raw Story]
But, for the audience Trump seeks to please, numbers are not of primary importance; they want good stories. I say that as, to borrow a phrase from my sister, a story junkie myself.
If Trump can endorse a nobody and elevate that nobody to electoral victory, he gains not only the undying gratitude[1] of the recipient, now riding on high, but he adds to his personal story of the Midas touch. The iconic example is Ron DeSantis, then an obscure backbench member of Congress, who entered the race for Florida governor and is widely credited with winning it by attracting Trump’s endorsement through artful and plentiful appearances on Fox News.
If Trump were better at it, his prestige would be higher. But he’s not all that good at it. In some cases, he’s stepped on the one step too far for the GOP base, domestic & sexual transgressions. See Charles Herbster (R-NE), for instance, beaten in the Nebraska primary for governor despite Trump’s endorsement amidst allegations of Herbster sexually harassing various women, or, worse yet, Sean Parnell (R-PA), endorsed for the Pennsylvania Senate race and forced to withdraw over domestic incident accusations, even though heartily denied.
Other failures are less obvious: Incumbent Senator Luther Strange in Alabama springs right to mind. I do not recall any particular transgressions, but Trump-endorsed Strange lost to Judge Roy Moore, who was then beaten by Democrat Doug Jones in the special election.
But the point is that Trump is trying to build a brand. He doesn’t do it very well, witness his poor picks, and other picks just go awry. He’s not the kingpin that Bolger believes he aspires to be. But I think Bolger has the story wrong.
As it were.
1 Not really. See, again, Governor DeSantis, now a man making the noises of a 2024 rival of Trump’s.
