CHARLESTON – With respect to a recent op-ed penned by my friend and former Mayor of Charleston Danny Jones, President Trump will be re-elected in 2020. Not only will President Trump be re-elected, but he will also prevail by a larger margin in 2020 than in 2016.
The American people, and particularly West Virginians, recognize that President Trump is fighting for them every day. In recent weeks, the unemployment rate fell to a 50 year low of 3.5 percent. Unemployment for women is 3.1 percent, the lowest in 66 years. Hispanic unemployment is at 3.9 percent, and African-American unemployment is at 5.5 percent – the lowest numbers on record. There is no question that President Trump has delivered on boosting our economy by creating more than 6 million jobs that have provided better opportunities for all Americans.
President Trump has consistently delivered on his campaign promises. He appointed staunch conservatives Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh as Associate Justices to the U.S. Supreme Court. He signed the most significant tax cut in three decades, he cut regulations and red tape at a breakneck pace, he pulled out of the disastrous Iran deal and the Paris Climate Accords. President Trump is fighting to secure our border, and today the wall along our southern border is being built. He moved our embassy in Israel to the capital of Israel – Jerusalem, as every President in the last 20 years has promised to do, and never delivered.
Potter
Every day President Trump fights to protect the conservative values and tax dollars of hardworking West Virginians. He has rolled back disastrous Obama-era energy regulations that put our coal miners and natural gas workers out of jobs. President Trump has been a champion for the unborn by cutting $60 million in taxpayer dollars from Planned Parenthood, and he fought to protect free speech and religious liberty for those who hold traditional values.
President Trump led the effort to reform and reinvigorate the Veterans Affairs Administration so that we honor the commitment to those who gave so much to protect our freedoms. Finally, President Trump repealed President Obama's Waters of the United States rule that over-regulated waterways and streams in the Mountain State. President Trump fights every day to protect and uphold the values of hardworking West Virginians.
Of course, elections are about choices. The choices of candidates on the Democrat side provide a sharp contrast to President Trump. Their candidates agree with liberals like Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who wants to shut down our coal mines and ban fracking by our natural gas workers. A majority of their candidates support providing amnesty and "free" healthcare to those who enter our country illegally. They support open borders, and some candidates, like Beto O'Rourke, support government confiscation of legally purchased firearms.
While the Democrats are fighting to see who can be the most liberal, President Trump has assembled the most robust re-election campaign in American history. In the third quarter of this year, President Trump and the Republican National Committee raised $125 Million. For comparison, this same time eight years ago, President Obama and the Democratic National Committee had raised only $70 million.
President Trump's re-election campaign has a battle-tested ground game and data-driven political operation that will defeat the liberal Democrat nominee that emerges. While Democrats obsess over impeachment, President Trump and Republicans are delivering results for the American people and building a robust campaign operation across the country and in targeted states that will focus on President Trump's remarkable record on jobs, secure borders, better trade deals, and traditional values.
I respect Mayor Danny Jones' opinion but disagree with his conclusion that President Trump will not be re-elected. The American people, particularly in the states most crucial to President Trump's re-election - Florida, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin - know that President Trump has fought for them. They will vote to give President Trump a second term.
Potter is chairwoman of the West Virginia Republican Party