Donald Trump’s rallies in blue wall states like California, New York and Colorado in the waning weeks of this year’s razor-thin presidential election are part of an unconventional campaign strategy that could be attributed to the former president’s hunger for large crowds, according to an analysis in Salon.
While presidential candidates traditionally spend the closing days of the campaign stumping in swings states – including Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and Arizona – “in hopes of eking out every last vote in the Electoral College,” Heather Digby Parton wrote in an analysis for Salon on Friday that “for obscure reasons, Trump will be wasting time in the final few weeks of the campaign” in large states traditionally won be Democrats.
“One explanation that's been offered is that Trump just wants to have rallies in highly populated areas because he gets bigger crowds, simply because of the population density, and he just loves those bigger crowds,” Parton wrote, noting that he “can’t stop bragging about” the crowd size of a summer rally he held in New Jersey.
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Another explanation offered by Parton's analysis is that Trump's choice to rally supporters in “high-impact settings” ultimately spreads his message further because the media has no choice but to cover the issues he is discussing.
“Sometimes you get the feeling that Trump is just in a YOLO frame of mind and nobody can stop him,” according to the analysis.
It continues: “After all, Trump may just see himself in a win-win situation. If he manages to eke out an electoral victory, it will naturally be the greatest victory the world has ever seen. And if he loses, it will also be the greatest victory the world has ever seen, except it will have been stolen by the Democrats. Everyone in America knows that he believes these are the only two possibilities.”
Parton concludes by previewing that Trump’s ultimate campaign strategy may hinge on what he decides is a free and fair election, adding that he has already outright said “it can only be free and fair if he wins.”
