Blankenship, others run Trump playbook

Tom Williams | CQ Roll Call | Getty Images

Sen. Joe Donnelly, D-Ind.

Republicans, by contrast, have endured a bitter contest pitting wealthy business executive Mike Braun against two House members, Luke Messer and Todd Rokita. Tuesday’s winner faces a challenge in uniting the GOP base against Donnelly in November.

Superior party unity has even given Democrats an outside shot of picking up a Senate seat this fall in Mississippi, another conservative Southern state that they haven’t carried for president for four decades. While Democrats rally behind Mike Espy, a black former congressman and presidential Cabinet member, Republicans face a bitter contest between appointed incumbent Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith and state legislator Chris McDaniel. The state’s primary is scheduled for June 5.

McConnell has appealed to Trump for help with the GOP’s problem. At his urging, the president on Monday intervened in the West Virginia primary.

“Don Blankenship, currently running for Senate, can’t win the general election in your state,” Trump told West Virginians on Twitter. “No way! Remember Alabama.”

Donald Trump tweet

Republican leaders in Washington remember Alabama well. Trump backed appointed incumbent Luther Strange in the Senate primary, but only tepidly.

“I may have made a mistake” in not favoring Moore, Trump declared before the contest was over. Moore’s subsequent defeat is the reason Democrats need to gain only two seats, not three, to turn 2018 Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer into the 2019 Senate majority leader.