ELECTION/GOP/POLLS/TRUMP PEOPLE: “For all of Donald Trump’s struggles in his first 19 months as President, there’s one thing he’s proven particularly adept at: Picking winners in contested GOP primaries. That run of winners is likely to continue on Tuesday night when voters go to the polls in Arizona and Florida.The most obvious example of Trump’s power within the party is in the Florida governor’s race, where, late last year, he tweeted favorably about the candidacy of Rep. Ron DeSantis, who was seen as a heavy underdog to state Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam in the primary…Then, earlier this summer, Trump formally endorsed DeSantis and held a rally for him in the state. Putnam, who had spent years raising millions and putting the organizational infrastructure in place to be the GOP nominee, found himself on the outside looking in. And polls began to reflect that DeSantis, not Putnam, was now the favorite. (The last four polls conducted in the race have shown DeSantis with leads ranging from 1 to 12 points.)…In Arizona’s Senate primary, Republican strategists have long worried that Rep. Martha McSally, a moderate who polling suggests is the party’s best chance to hold the seat, would lose if Trump came out and endorsed either one of her more Trumpian opponents: Former state legislator Kelli Ward, or pardoned Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio.”
–Chris Cillizza, “Donald Trump is going to be a big winner tonight,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, August 28, 2018 8:18 pm