Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* Donald Trump takes his endorsement record very seriously, to the point that he likes to pretend that he can singlehandedly choose election winners, especially in Republican primaries, with the snap of his fingers. A few months ago, for example, the president boasted online, “My Endorsements within the Republican Party have been virtually insurmountable! It is such an honor to realize and say that almost everyone I Endorse WINS, and wins by a lot.”
The trouble is, the power of his endorsement isn’t nearly as strong as he claims, as we were reminded again last week. In Iowa’s GOP gubernatorial primary, Trump threw his support behind Rep. Randy Feenstra, who narrowly lost to Zach Lahn.
Asked Thursday whether he regrets backing Feenstra, the president told reporters, “Had I been given the proper information, which I don’t think I was, I probably would have endorsed the other person, or not endorsed at all, but I would have endorsed the other person.”
He did not elaborate as to who failed to provide him with “the proper information.”
* Speaking of Iowa’s gubernatorial race, Lahn will face state Auditor Rob Sand, who won the Democratic nomination, and this week, Sand announced his running mate: Crawford County Supervisor Dave Muhlbauer, a fifth-generation family farmer and lifelong Iowan.