ELECTIONS/MIKE PENCE/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP PEOPLE: “President Donald Trump is amassing an army of political insiders for 2020 — all without leaving the White House. The Trump administration has hosted 14 ‘state days’ over the past few months, inviting county commissioners of both parties to come through for tours and meet senior administration officials, including Vice President Mike Pence. While the daylong events are formally billed as a way to establish a relationship between behemoth federal agencies and their local counterparts, they also are designed to engender new loyalty to a president some Republicans refused to support in 2016 as he begins to look ahead to his reelection campaign, according to two former aides. On Wednesday [5-23-18], more than 100 county supervisors from Wisconsin are set to make the trip to Washington. By the end of the year, the White House expects every county commissioner in the country to have received an invitation to attend such an occasion at the White House. Trump isn’t the first president to use the pomp of the presidency to cement support or cultivate alliances in critical states. But for this president, the meetings are helping wipe the slate clean with people who were never on board the Trump Train.”
-Christopher Cadelago, “Trump tries to amass local army for 2020,” Politico, May 20, 2018 6:00 pm