Trump campaign concludes there is more to be gained by attacking Biden than trying to promote presid
President Trump’s campaign is preparing to launch a broad effort aimed at linking Joe Biden to China, after concluding that it would be more politically effective than defending or promoting Trump’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.
The decision by top campaign advisers, which has met pushback from some White House officials and donors, reflects polling showing a declining approval rating for Trump among key groups and growing openness to supporting Biden in recent weeks, according to officials familiar with the data who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.
The shift represents a remarkable acknowledgment by aides to a self-described a “wartime president,” leading during what might have been a rally-around-the-flag moment, to effectively decide it is better to go on the attack than focus on his own achievements. Campaign polling found more than three-quarters of voters blamed China for the coronavirus outbreak, underscoring the potential benefits of tying the presumptive Democratic nominee to Beijing.
The planned China push, which has already been embraced by pro-Trump outside groups, comes as both the Trump and Biden campaigns have been anxiously recalibrating their plans in response to the most catastrophic economic and health crisis in the United States in generations. The two title contenders for the 2020 elections are finally set, but neither campaign, with their mismatched strengths and weaknesses, knows what the election arena will look like.
With the public distracted by economic collapse and disease, strategists have been trying to craft campaign blueprints that can accommodate everything from a country that reopens this summer to a fall election season without any door-knocking or massive rallies and with limited Election Day voting in person. They also face a challenge in inducing persuadable voters to focus on politics when they are consumed by their personal situations.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-campaign-concludes-there-is-more-to-be-gained-by-attacking-biden-than-trying-to-promote-presidents-pandemic-response/2020/04/18/9644af9a-80e6-11ea-9040-68981f488eed_story.html
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