DEMS/GOP/PENNSYLVANIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The head of Senate Democrats’ campaign arm chided President Donald Trump on Sunday [3-18-18] for not being the most effective surrogate for his party, coming after the GOP appears poised to lose a special election in Pennsylvania in a congressional district the president easily carried in 2016…Van Hollen, who is chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee for this cycle, took special delight in the election of Alabama Sen. Doug Jones, which occurred after the president stuck with GOP candidate Roy Moore and held a rally on the border between Florida and Alabama.Trump also made a last-minute appearance for Rick Saccone, the Republican candidate in Pennsylvania’s 18th Congressional District, but Democrat Conor Lamb was the apparent victor in last Tuesday’s election [3-13-18]. Lamb holds a 627-vote lead, but The Associated Press has yet to call the race as Saccone and Republicans mull a recount.
Regardless, the GOP was successful in holding on to five House seats in special elections in 2017, although the margins of victory in those districts swung sharply against historical trends and could hint at problems to come in November.”
–Brent D. Griffiths,”Van Hollen: Trump ‘not as persuasive as he thinks he is’,” Politico, Mar. 18, 2018 8:41pm