Source: Politics<\/p>\n
WASILLA, Alaska \u2014 Three weeks out from Election Day, President Donald Trump took a helicopter to a plane to another helicopter to a motorcade to an ice hockey rink in Alaska’s Matanuska-Susitna Valley, traversing nearly 4,000 miles over more than eight hours to turn out his base here to help Republicans defend the Senate.<\/p>\n
But Trump\u2019s trek might not be enough to save Sen. Dan Sullivan, who\u2019s running in a tougher-than-expected race against Democrat Mary Peltola in a state where the president\u2019s approval rating is underwater<\/a> and independents outnumber both Republicans and Democrats.<\/p>\n Alaska strategists and voters who spoke to POLITICO acknowledged that Sullivan faces a difficult path to reelection, despite Trump\u2019s time investment and the outside money pouring in.<\/p>\n \u201cVery conservative MAGA voters can\u2019t vote for you harder,\u201d said Scott Kendall, a veteran political strategist who worked on two of Alaska GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski\u2019s campaigns and was chief of staff to former Alaska Gov. Bill Walker. \u201cDonald Trump\u2019s support in this current climate is both a blessing and a curse.\u201d<\/p>\n Even some Trump supporters at the Tuesday night rally admitted the outlook appeared bleak.<\/p>\n \u201cI think Alaska\u2019s turning blue,\u201d said Matt Niessink, a 45-year-old general contractor from Wasilla. He said he had voted for Trump three times and planned to support Republicans this year.<\/p>\n What did he wish the president would do differently? \u201cI wish he\u2019d shut his mouth sometimes and not be such a pompous ass,\u201d Niessink said.<\/p>\n The president was in Wasilla \u2014 population 10,556 \u2014 because the outlook is darkening for his party in a state he carried by 13 points just two years ago. In a midterm year defined by the cost of gas and groceries, the Last Frontier has been hit particularly hard, with the average price of diesel nearing $7 per gallon. In the Senate race, Peltola is flush with cash and leads Sullivan in most polls. MAGA Inc., the cash-rich Trump-aligned super PAC, is increasingly focusing on Alaska as one in a slate of states<\/a> that can help Republicans hold the Senate.<\/p>\n Enter Trump, who has been spending the cycle\u2019s crucial final weeks holding rallies in red states to juice support among his base, which tends to see depressed turnout in years when he\u2019s not on the ballot.<\/p>\n \u201cThat was a lot of flying,\u201d the president said at the top of his remarks. \u201cIn fact, they were thinking about canceling. They said, \u2018Sir, you\u2019re very busy, this is very tough.\u2019\u201d But, Trump continued, he refused to cancel for a state he won three times.<\/p>\n Echoing his comments at other red-state rallies, Trump asked the roaring crowd for \u201cone big favor\u201d \u2014 to \u201cpretend that I’m on the ballot, because every time I’ve been on the ballot, we win.\u201d He repeated his promise that Americans will receive $5,000 dividends if Republicans hold both chambers.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat this is about is getting out the vote,\u201d Sullivan told reporters before Trump\u2019s speech. \u201cA rising tide of enthusiasm lifts all the candidates.\u201d<\/p>\n Unlike some other Republican candidates in tight races, Sullivan has shied away from distancing himself from the least popular aspects of Trump\u2019s presidency.<\/p>\n Sullivan proclaimed on stage at the rally that \u201cthe conflict in the Middle East is temporary. The true forever war is the national Democrats\u2019 war against Alaska oil and gas and our jobs.\u201d And although a campaign aide released a statement condemning Trump\u2019s move to import Russian diesel, Sullivan did not join four of his Republican Senate colleagues, including Murkowski, who called on Trump to reverse the decision.<\/p>\n Art Hackney, a veteran Republican strategist in Alaska, said that \u201cmost of the people who support\u201d Sullivan \u201cthink that he should\u201d break more with the president.<\/p>\n Hackney, who runs a pro-Sullivan super PAC called \u201cWe Stand with Dan,\u201d attributed that choice to loyalty \u2014 but suggested the president\u2019s demand of fealty, and treatment of frequent dissenter Murkowski, could also be part of Sullivan\u2019s calculus.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of his longtime supporters and the people who are in the industries that would benefit from that wish he would be more blunt,\u201d Hackney said. \u201cBut with what Murkowski has done, if Dan did something considered a disrespectful trigger or something, what do you think would happen? It could well have implications for things that affect Alaska’s economy.\u201d<\/p>\n Like this content? Consider signing up for POLITICO’s Playbook PM newsletter<\/a>.
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