Trump/Ellmers?

Published May 4, 2016

[caption id="attachment_4476" align="alignleft" width="143"]Rep. Renee Ellmers Rep. Renee Ellmers[/caption]

by John Wynne, Politics North Carolina, May 2, 2016.

Here’s some vice presidential speculation for you: Rep. Renee Ellmers as the running mate for Donald Trump.

Need convincing? Donald Trump’s unfavorables with women are through the roof. He needs a female running mate to bring them down a little. Very few women in Congress have endorsed Donald Trump’s candidacy. In fact, Ms. Ellmers is the only one. Trump also wants an “insider” running mate, someone with good relations on Capitol Hill. Not too many fit that combination more than Congresswoman Ellmers.

Not only does Trump need someone like Ellmers, Ellmers needs Trump and has been trying to win over Trump voters, even writing a glowing profile for him in Time Magazine. And just a few days ago she tried to depict her primary opponent Congressman George Holding as “low-energy” on a Facebook post. Ellmers, amazingly, has become a loyal advocate of Trump, and we know that the Donald values loyalty.

Then there’s North Carolina. It’s a must-win swing state. By putting a North Carolinian on the ticket, Trump could put the state safely in the red column, allowing him to focus on even more pivotal states like Ohio, Florida, and Virginia. Another check for Ms. Ellmers.

Trump and Ellmers are also ideological matches, at least on one issue – women’s health. They’re both pro-life but clearly want to take care of women. Because of that, they’ve taken a lot of heat from pro-life groups, who don’t like Trump for his embrace of Planned Parenthood, and who don’t like Ellmers for derailing the bill banning partial birth abortion. A Trump/Ellmers ticket would be a signal to suburban women that the GOP is moving toward the middle on the abortion issue.

There’s just one little problem: Ellmers is running for reelection this year and can’t run for both offices at the same time. In fact, she probably won’t even make it to the general election. At least, that was before Dr. Greg Brannon entered the fray. Polling apparently shows Brannon splitting the conservative vote with Holding, giving Ellmers a fighting chance at victory. If she wins next month, it will prove that embracing Trumpism is a winning strategy. It would probably put Ms. Ellmers squarely on Trump’s radar screen.

Regardless of whether or not she wins her primary next month, Ellmers would be an unconventional pick. But that just makes it even more likely that Trump will ultimately pick her. Don’t we expect, after all, for him to pick someone unconventional? For that reason, keep a close eye on the Ellmers/Holding/Brannon battle in the 2nd district. It could have national implications.

http://www.politicsnc.com/trumpellmers/

May 5, 2016 at 1:19 pm
Pat Kelley says:

This would be a hoot of a ticket, but at least they would have one interesting campaign issue in common ... alleged affairs.