'Let me ask you a question,' President Trump said to the crowd at his final rally in South Carolina last week.
asserted
Trump → let → Carolina
'How many people in this room were ever polled?
asserted
people → poll → room
I mean, seriously, because I'm curious...'
asserted
I → mean → ?
Trump went on to explain that he sees 'polls, polls, polls' come out every day but he never personally knew anyone who was surveyed.
asserted
who → go → anyone
In answer to his question, a very small smattering, among several thousand in an arena in Rock Hill, South Carolina, raised their arms.
asserted
smattering → raise → arms
I mean, it's amazing,' Trump concluded, looking puzzled.
asserted
Trump → mean → ?
It's clear that he simply doesn't, or is choosing not to, believe the avalanche of polls predicting a midterms blue wave and that he is banking on a hidden Republican vote – hidden because the pollsters didn't ask his supporters.
asserted
pollsters → choose → supporters
His experiment was unscientific, but not the only evidence the blue wave might hit a red wall.
uncertain
wave → hit → wall
The Washington Post and George Mason University recently revealed that, in their polling of Kansas, Democrats were nearly three times more likely than Republicans to respond to surveys.
asserted
Democrats → reveal → surveys
In South Carolina, Trump was at the start of a final 72-hour rally blitz, which would also take him to Florida, Kansas and Iowa.
asserted
which → take → Florida
It was the culmination of an intense October in which he held over 25 rallies, sometimes speaking for up to two hours at a time.
asserted
he → hold → time
Trump launched a final rally blitz in a bid to rescue beleaguered Republican candidates
After he returned from South Carolina on Thursday, a Reuters reporter made the mistake of asking the 80-year-old if he was getting 'sick of traveling.'
asserted
he → launch → traveling
Trump unloaded on the unfortunate scribe, and promptly reinstated two rallies he had cancelled.
asserted
he → unload → rallies
When he returned to a stage, on Friday in Daytona Beach, Florida, he admitted: 'I thought this was it.
asserted
this → return → Beach
I thought I could relax...
uncertain
I → think → ?
My voice is about operating at about 49.2 percent...
asserted
voice → operate → percent
and then they called me in Iowa, and they called me in Kansas.'
asserted
they → call → Kansas
At one point, he stopped to wipe his eye with a wet napkin.
asserted
he → stop → napkin
Trump said he'd like to use eye drops but, if he did, the 'fake news' would report that he was 'seriously ill, that there's something wrong with me.'
asserted
he → say → me
A huge problem for the party is that many of his most ardent supporters are so-called 'low-propensity' voters, meaning they turn out for him, but not for congressional candidates.
asserted
they → call → candidates
The best way to get them to the polls in large numbers was for Trump to go and tell them.
asserted
Trump → get → them
Trump paused to wiped his eye during a rally in Daytona Beach, Florida, saying the 'fake news' would probably report he was 'seriously ill'
The rise of early voting was also key to the decision to use him so much.
asserted
rise → pause → him
When Trump does a rally in a state with early voting, supporters can go straight to a polling station the next morning.
asserted
supporters → do → station
However, the strategy has its limits.
asserted
strategy → have → limits
At his rally for embattled GOP Senate candidate Darline Graham in South Carolina, the Daily Mail spoke to numerous supporters who had come from across the border in North Carolina.
asserted
who → speak → Carolina
They weren't there to see Graham.
asserted
They → see → Graham
Trump urged people to get to the polls, but many of them couldn't vote in the state.
asserted
many → urge → state
The calculation strategists made was whether Trump could get more low-propensity voters to the polls than the number of independents and moderate Republicans he might alienate when he visited crucial states.
uncertain
he → make → states
That too was a problem highlighted in South Carolina where, a few hours after his rally, the Daily Mail encountered a woman at the main nearby polling station.
asserted
Mail → highlight → station
A Republican, she had been disgusted by Trump's antics at the rally and had gone straight to vote for the Democratic Senate candidate Dr Annie Andrews, mainly because she objected to Trump calling her 'Tranny Annie.
asserted
Trump → disgust → her
'
'That's not a nice word,' the former Republican said.
asserted
Republican → say → ?
Trump's crowd sizes varied during his midterm rallies but in Daytona Beach, Florida the audience was large and enthusiastic.
asserted
audience → vary → Beach
'Crowd size means success,' he told them
Supporters wearing 'Blacks for Trump' shirts and backing Byron Donalds for Florida governor in Daytona Beach
Trump has hammered his closing message - that Republicans delivered dramatic reductions in illegal border crossings and violent crime, stock market records, and low unemployment.
asserted
Republicans → mean → crossings
The country is 'hot,' he says.
asserted
he → say → ?
It brings cheers in the room, but that message is not resonating with a wider audience beset by high the cost of living.
asserted
message → bring → living
Throughout this midterm rally-fest, Trump's off-Teleprompter meanderings have been longer, stranger – he gave the English language at least one new word ('Watercane' anyone?) – and sometimes more controversial, than ever.
asserted
he → give → word
They have featured some headline-making, head-scratching vignettes – most notably his praise for Nicki Minaj's 'beautiful ass,' and his similar admiration for the posterior of Jon Husted, the Republican Senate candidate in Ohio, which he described as 'like a pile of muscle.
asserted
he → feature → muscle
In Florida, Trump attempted to explain the Husted comments, but it was like watching a man dig himself a deeper hole.
asserted
man → attempt → hole
Later, when someone in the crowd shouted, 'We love you,' Trump said 'I love you,' back, only to then realize it was a man.
asserted
it → shout → you
In Florida, he estimated that he'd done 1,100 rallies since 2015.
asserted
he → estimate → 2015
…and 69 more, not listed.
The Aporia
