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With endorsement of Donald Trump, Steve Daines must be tired of winning

April 28, 2023

Is Montana Senator Steve Daines already tired of winning?

Daines, who was chosen a few months ago by his Republican colleagues to helm their campaign committee, announced this week his endorsement of Donald Trump for president.

There’s little downside for Daines personally – Trump won Montana in 2020 by 16 percentage points – but having Trump as the Republican nominee could have disastrous effects on Daines as the National Republican Senatorial Committee chairman.

Maybe Daines is trying to form a working relationship with the former president. But if Daines has evidence suggesting Trump can be corralled with an endorsement or is willing to set aside his ego for the good of the party, I’d love to see it.

The endorsement was unnecessary. Daines could have backed his colleague, Tim Scott, in the race or used deference to Scott as an excuse to stay out of it for now. After all, Daines backed a colleague, Sen. Marco Rubio, in 2015.

But Daines leaned in, saying the “best four years” he’s had in the Senate were while Trump was president, citing tax reform and judicial appointments, according to Politico.

But you know who else would have pushed for tax cuts and conservative judges? Literally any other Republican president.

Republicans have a golden opportunity to regain control of the Senate. Three possible flipping opportunities – in West Virginia, Ohio and Montana – are in states where Trump won easily in both 2016 and 2020.

In theory Trump wouldn’t be a drag on Republicans in those states, but that’s assuming everything goes according to plan, which is no guarantee with Trump.

Trump’s potential to turn winnable races into losers is unparalleled, in terms of both promoting terrible candidates in the primary and turning out Democratic voters in the general.

Let’s not forget that because Trump backed an accused pedophile in a very safe Alabama Senate seat, Alabamans did the unthinkable: Elected a Democrat.

Let’s also not forget that the reason Republicans are trying to regain control of the Senate instead of retaining control is because Trump’s meddling in 2022 blew up the midterms.

In California, Trump’s presence has been apocalyptic. The 2014 midterms breathed new life into California Republicans, making modest gains throughout the state. But four years later in the 2018 midterms Republicans lost half of their congressional seats and were relegated to super-minority status in the Legislature – a sentence for which there seems to be no chance of parole.

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The Republican’s slow erosion had been happening for years, but under Trump it turned to a mudslide. Whatever effect he has getting Republicans to the polls is offset by repelling moderate voters and making Democrats vote like their lives depended on it.

To be clear, I want Daines to be successful and for Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell to be majority leader again.

Daines is said to be doing everything he can to learn from his predecessors’ mistakes of the past, particularly in terms of candidate recruitment. But this is precisely where Daines needs Trump to remain as far away as possible, since Trump’s only measure of candidate viability is the degree to which they suck up to him.

Trump will be a factor in the upcoming election no matter what and Daines must adjust accordingly. But pacts with Trump seem to go poorly for everyone but Trump — the smart play seems to be limiting Trump’s influence as much as possible.

If Daines is successful in 2024, it will be in spite of Trump, not because of him.

Follow Matt on Twitter @FlemingWords

Orange County Register

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With endorsement of Donald Trump, Steve Daines must be tired of winning

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