Trump’s plea – ‘pretend I’m on the ballot’ – deserves to backfire | Margaret Sullivan

With his poll numbers tanking and his behavior getting odder, the remark seems more appealing to himself than to voters As he criss-crosses the nation, stumping for Republican candidates, Donald Trump keeps asking voters to use their imaginations. “In this election, I’m asking you to pretend, please, that I’m on the ballot. Just pretend,” he urged at a Kansas rally as he campaigned for the incumbent senator Roger Marshall and gubernatorial challenger Ty Masterson last month. “Pretend I’m on the ballot” has become a regular rallying cry as Trump tries to fend off a Democratic “blue wave” in Congress.

Given his own lack of popularity and weird behavior, it’s an egotistical notion – more appealing to himself than to voters. After all, his approval ratings are in the basement. Gas prices are higher, on average, than at any time during the Biden years. People feel like they need to float a loan before heading to the supermarket. In that Kansas rally, he referred to the opposition as “Dumocrats”, which is typical of the level of presidential discourse to which the nation