Trump campaign tries robust outreach to expand his appeal

President Donald Trump arrives at UW-Milwaukee Panr Arena to speak at a campaign rally in Milwaukee. Trump's surrogates are fanning out across country as part of an aggressive effort to stretch his appeal beyond base of working-class white voters who propelled him to victory in 2016.

Selfies on a “Women for Trump” bus tour through Iowa. Volunteer training at a “Black Voices for Trump” organizing session in Philelphia. A vice presidential heliner at a “Latis for Trump” event in Florida.

President Donald Trump’s surrogates fanned out across country Thursday in a show of force that is part of an aggressive — and uphill — effort to stretch his appeal beyond base of working-class white voters who propelled him to victory in 2016.

With a recognition that Trump will need to turn out new voters in vember to be reelected, his campaign has dramatically stepped up outreach efforts to various constituencies, including African Americans, Hispanics and women, building a coalition operation that officials believe is most robust of any Republican campaign in history.

outreach marks a dramatic departure from 2016, when Trump’s volunteer “National Diversity Coalition” struggled to make an impact.

“re’s comparison between 2016 and w,” said Trump campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh of effort. He described outreach effort as “a significant department unto itself,” complete with dedicated staff, resources and a budget that is expected to reach tens of millions of dollars.

“se are all well-financed, well-organized coalitions intended to reach out to voters that y’re targeting. And we kw that Republican campaign or president has ever h as muscular a coalitions outreach,” he said.

operation was in full force Thursday when president’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, senior campaign viser Mercedes Schlapp and press secretary Kayleigh McEnany began a two-day “Women for Trump” bus tour through Iowa aimed at engaging women with training sessions, round tables and panel discussions. tour comes less than three weeks before Democrats will begin to cast ir first minating ballots in state’s kickoff caucuses.

Meanwhile, in must—win Florida, Vice President Mike Pence helined a “Latis for Trump” event in Kissimmee at Nación de Fe, an evangelical church with a mostly Lati congregation as part of his own bus tour.

“We’re going to get four more years and Latis for Trump are going to le way,” he told about 400 people in attendance, emphasizing country’s low Hispanic unemployment rate and ministration’s anti-abortion stance.

Around same time in battleground Pennsylvania, a few dozen people filled pews of First Immanuel Baptist Church in Philelphia for a “Black Voices for Trump” discussion focused on Trump’s impact on African American community ahe of a volunteer training session. church’s pastor opened with a call to “make Pennsylvania great again.”

flurry of activity, long before Democrats have settled on ir minee, underscores just how dramatically different Trump’s campaign is this time around. While much of Washington has been focused on upcoming Senate impeachment trial and ongoing contest between Democrats, president’s campaign has been on ground, trying to make case to voters who may have passed on Trump in 2016.

re is plenty of room for improvement.

Trump won just 6% of black voters last time, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of people who participated in its polls and were confirmed to have voted. And polling shows that African Americans continue to be overwhelmingly negative in ir assessments of president’s performance, with his approval hovering around 1 in 10 over course of his presidency, according to Gallup.

He also lost by wide margins among Hispanics and women, who continue to lag behind men in ir support for president.

neless, Trump allies insist that president’s support has grown since 2016 in ways that aren’t reflected in tritional polling.

“I believe that you cant look at se polls as an indicator because y’re missing people,” said Paris Dennard, a member of campaign’s black outreach coalition who led Thursday’s “Black Voices for Trump” discussion at Philelphia church.

“I think re’s a movement going on,” he said.

While critics have accused president of being racist and t caring about black communities, Dennard pointed to campaign’s significant investment in his coalition — beginning with its kickoff event in Atlanta in vember, which was attended by president, vice president, secretary of housing and urban development and or senior officials — as a “testament” to commitment president has me.

Indeed, campaign has alrey spent more than $1 million on black outreach, including rio, print and online vertising in dozens of markets since coalition’s launch to help Trump build support in a community that has long leaned overwhelmingly Democratic, campaign said.

While Trump’s mess to black voters in 2016 boiled down to question: “What have you got to lose?” supporters w say y have a record to point to, including low black unemployment rate, investments in historically black colleges and universities, and criminal justice reform in form of bipartisan “First Step Act” Trump signed into law.

And campaign insists it’s working.

“He’s expanding his pool of voters, without question,” said Murtaugh. “We see movement alrey.”

In dition to its outreach to Hispanics, African Americans and women, campaign has also launched groups focused on veterans and evangelical voters — two groups where support for Trump is strong.

On Thursday, his ministration took a series of steps aimed at maintaining his standing among white evangelical Christians, with Trump reaffirming students’ rights to pray in public schools and nine Cabinet ncies acting to remove “regulatory burdens” placed on religious organizations participating in federal programs.

“We will t let anyone push god from public square,” Trump said at an Oval Office event with school prayer vocates. “We will uphold religious liberty for all.”

Jacob Frost, 21, who drove two hours to Kissimmee, Florida, to see Pence speak after being turned away from an crowded afteron rally in Tampa, said he couldn’t resist being part of history and seeing vice president speak same day that House formally delivered its impeachment articles Senate.

“ pro-choice stance really turns me off from Democrats,” he said

About 8 in 10 self-identified white evangelical protestants approved of Trump’s performance as president, according to AP-RC polling last month.

Photo Credit:AP