President Donald Trump isn’t just focused on his own reelection.
He certainly knows that winning alone isn’t enough – that the only way he can cement his legacy is by having Congress back under Republican control.
That means not only keeping the Senate.
It means flipping the House away from the Democrats and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
With the GOP back in control of both the House and Senate, Trump would be in position to help restore the economy and the country from the devastation of the pandemic.
And he could do it without House liberals demanding cash for their pet causes as ransom for cooperation.
That motivation has both the Republican Party and grassroots activists working hard to identify the weakest link in the Democratic caucus.
One activist is not only finding those seats, but putting them on public notice on Twitter.
Scott Presler, a panelist at this year’s CPAC convention, tweeted:
I'm angry,
but also at myself.
The truth is: We've given up our rights — 1 by 1 — & allowed the gov't to trample over us.
We let it happen.
I'm channeling my anger into action.
Working on a project to identify vulnerable House dems & connect Republicans in those districts.
— ThePersistence (@ScottPresler) April 10, 2020
For example, he noted that then-Rep. Scott Taylor won Virginia’s 2nd Congressional district in 2016 in a landslide, taking 61 percent of the vote. Two years later, he lost it in a nail-biter, with Rep. Elaine Luria (D-Va.) earning just 51 percent of the vote.
That seat, Presler noted, is ripe for flipping back to the GOP side of the aisle… and he’s placed tools online for local activists in the district to help take action.
But he didn’t just do that for one race.
He’s doing it for others, too, identifying seats in Georgia, California, New Mexico, Texas and more that are prime for flipping.
It may seem like a tall order. But he’s hardly alone as many of these races will soon be in the national spotlight.
Axios reports two reasons Trump and the Republican Party will work extra hard to regain the House.
First, the president is out for revenge.
An unnamed official told the website he wants to punish House Democrats for putting him through “months of hell” with impeachment.
And second, the website notes that if Democrats keep control it’s likely to happen all over again. More investigations… and even another impeachment.
Axios called winning the House Trump’s “best insurance policy” against a repeat.
As a result, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said the president himself will be closely involved.
“If you look at where we’re playing, he’ll be going,” McCarthy said. “He’s already made that commitment to me.”
The website said the GOP has identified up to 30 Democratic seats the president could personally help flip: Democrat-held seats in districts he won in 2016 – districts that will likely have increased Republican turnout in 2020 as those same voters return to the polls to help his reelection.
There will no shortage of candidates for those seats.
Fox News reported in February that the GOP is getting active at the grassroots level like never before.
Last year, 781 Republicans filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to run for the House, which the network said was the most ever in an odd year.
Sarah Bryner, research director at the Center for Responsive Politics, told Fox that Republicans saw what the left pulled off in 2018 when they seized control over the House.
Now, they’re ready to turn the tables.
“So they know that it is possible,” she told the network. “They saw some seats picked off that I think shocked the party and the public. They want to get those back.”
At least one candidate believes rank-and-file Republican voters have reason to be extra motivated this November.
“This is the first time in American history, where the president was impeached and he’s going to be on the ballot,” veteran Sean Parnell, who is running for a House seat in Pennsylvania, told Fox. “The GOP turnout is going to be through the roof this election cycle. Everywhere we go, people are excited to vote.”
— Walter W. Murray is a reporter for The Horn News. He is an outspoken conservative and a survival expert, and is the author of “America’s Final Warning.”