Even Republicans don’t want to touch Trump right now

Heading into the final two weeks before Election Day on November 3, Republicans are pursuing two conflicting campaign strategies that could send voters mixed messages. One is all about President Donald Trump and the other pretends he doesn’t exist. While Trump has returned to the campaign trail promoting his record and asking voters to pretend he’s on the ballot, actual Republican candidates have increasingly tried to keep Trump out of the picture. Just look at their advertising. Less than $1 of every $100 spent on television ads for Republican congressional candidates from September 9 to October 17 mentions Trump, according to a New York Times review of data from the advertisement tracking firm AdImpact. By contrast, $20 of every $100 spent on Democratic ads mention Trump. Over that same period, Trump hosted and spoke at both nights of a rare midterm convention nicknamed “Trumpapalooza,” held 15 rallies, and aired nearly $22 million in government-funded commercials promoting himself before facing bipartisan backlash (he later said his PAC would pay for them in the future). For Republican congressional candidates who don’t want to talk about Trump, he’s made it very hard. It’s not…

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