It’s rare to see a Democrat at a rally for President Donald Trump. It’s even rarer to see a Democratic candidate asking for support outside one.
But that is what happened with days to go in Mississippi’s close Senate race, when Democrat Scott Colom traveled to Corinth to shake hands and talk with people outside the event Trump was hosting for incumbent Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R).
“What are you expecting? I’ve never been to a Trump rally,” Colom asked people in line. “What matters to you as a veteran right now?” he asked a man, who told him about gun rights. Other voters told him they were worried about high gas prices and the war in Iran.
“I walked the Trump rally line to listen, not make assumptions. I talked with voters, asked questions and heard what matters to them,” Colom wrote about his interactions.
The strategy seems to have worked, and Colom was leading, as of early Thursday afternoon, the Republican incumbent by more than 1,700 votes in the state’s undecided Senate race.
Democrats responded to Trump’s rise with an internal party debate about how to reach out to Trump supporters. Some rejected connecting with MAGA voters, with candidates during the 2020 presidential nominating contest saying, for example, they would not go on Fox News, the Trump-friendly cable channel.
But Colom chose to go directly to the heart of Trump’s base.
The post Scott Colom met Mississippi Republicans where they were at: A Trump rally appeared first on Washington Post.
