To: Interested Parties

From: Seth Nelson, Maine Democratic Party

Date: Sunday, August 23, 2020

Re: Trump Campaign in Crisis in Maine as Chaotic Convention Begins

When the Republican Party addresses Americans tomorrow at the start of the Republican National Convention, you’d forgive them if they seemed to be trembling. After all, in crucial states like Maine, the Trump campaign is facing historic headwinds, weakened by organizational and enthusiasm deficits, and weighed down by the disastrous record and unpopular positions of a failed administration. Trump will be hoping that his chaos convention can end his campaign in crisis -- but too many Maine families are facing crises of their own brought on by the Trump administration, and with fewer than 75 days to go until Election Day, Trump is out of time. 

Trump’s Disastrous Administration Is Littered With Political Broken Promises…

President Trump’s broken promises and chaotic leadership have left him without an issue to run on: 

  • Trump’s executive order to defer the payroll tax -- and his pledge to eliminate it entirely if reelected -- would devastate the state, which has the highest median age in the country and is the fastest aging of the 50 states. The payroll tax is the primary funding for Social Security, and permanently eliminating it would irreparably harm the program. Meanwhile, if elected, Joe Biden would strengthen Social Security benefits.
    • More than half of all voters––including majorities of Democrats, Republicans, and independents––view stopping cuts to Social Security as their most important issue in November.
  • Trump can’t run on health care, either; his constant efforts to gut the Affordable Care Act would strip health care coverage from nearly 100,000 Mainers through the elimination of MaineCare and other means. Joe Biden, meanwhile, wants to protect Mainers’ health care and make it easier, not harder for everyone to access affordable health care.
  • And while the actions Governor Mills has taken have blunted COVID-19’s impact on Mainers’ health, Trump’s ruinous response has wreaked havoc across the country; as of Friday, over 175,000 Americans have died due to complications from the coronavirus, and positive cases continue to climb at a rate of over 45,000 per day. 
    • As of mid-August, Trump’s approval rating for his handling of the coronavirus is 17 points underwater, a 21 point decrease in net approval since March.
  • Trump’s COVID economy has still hit Maine hard, prompting calls for aid to Mainers working as loggers and lobstermen to rural doctors and nurses. While Joe Biden has a plan to Build Back Better from the pandemic and the recession, Trump has failed to negotiate a deal in Washington, D.C. to boost the economy. 

...While Enthusiasm for Joe Biden in Maine Grows…

Even in the midst of a historic pandemic, Democratic voters are fired up, and the Maine Democratic Coordinated Campaign has continued to build the winning coalition that will defeat Trump in November: 

  • In the final days before coronavirus lockdowns, Democratic voters in Maine surged to the polls for the March primary, with more than four times the number of Democrats participating than in 2016. 
  • Since 2016, six times as many Mainers have registered to vote as Democrats than Republicans.
  • Democrats not only are the largest voting bloc in the state for the first time in three decades, their advantage over Republicans is the largest registration advantage either party has had in the last five presidential cycles.

Making Democrats Even More Confident They’ll Win in November.

Between strong Democratic enthusiasm and Trump’s failed record, this week’s chaos convention won’t stop Democrats from building on their historic gains at the ballot box in the crucial areas that will decide this election: 

  • Maine Democrats proved their organizing strength two years ago with a string of victories:
    • Democrats flipped the Governor’s Mansion. Gov. Janet Mills defeated her Republican opponent by more than 7 points. 
    • Maine Democrats unified control of the state’s House delegation by winning the second congressional seat, which had been controlled by Republicans since 2015.
    • Democrats flipped the state Senate and strengthened their majority in the state House.
  • Now, Trump faces major headwinds in Maine, as 58% of Mainers disapprove of the job Donald Trump is doing, putting him 20 points underwater.

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