Republicans Deploy Reverse Coattails Strategy

Republicans announced this week that President Donald Trump’s 32% approval rating is not endangering the party in November’s midterm elections, but powering an innovative “reverse coattails” strategy in which candidates flee their own president so quickly that voters briefly mistake them for independent thinkers. A national poll showing 66% of Americans disapproving of Trump, with Democrats leading Republicans 43% to 35% on the congressional ballot, was initially misclassified by traditional analysts as catastrophic. GOP strategists later corrected the error, explaining that Trump has successfully monopolized nearly one-third of the electorate while generously donating everyone else to Democrats.

Trump described the arrangement as another example of his unmatched political strength. “Nobody has ever had numbers like these because nobody before me understood that popularity is actually very weak and losing support gives you tremendous flexibility,” Trump said. “I could be at 90% very easily, but then Republicans would become dependent on voters, and voters are very unpredictable people. They complain constantly.” Party officials said the president’s decision to repel two-thirds of the country gives Republican candidates valuable opportunities to establish their courage by avoiding his name, changing the subject and developing urgent scheduling conflicts whenever he visits their states.

Republican candidates have demonstrated further message discipline by declining to emphasize Trump’s proposed $5,000 “dividend” checks if the party retains Congress. Campaign officials said promoting the offer could prompt tiresome questions about where the money would come from, when it would arrive and why a billionaire requires an electoral down payment before helping anyone. The White House nevertheless remains confident Trump can lift congressional candidates by appearing constantly, discussing himself exclusively and reminding Americans that every local race is fundamentally a referendum on Donald Trump. If Republicans lose either chamber, strategists will count the defeat as final confirmation that reverse coattails worked perfectly: Trump will have fewer Republican lawmakers available to steal credit for his historic unpopularity.

* None of the quotes in this article were spoken by an actual person. More info.