Pennsylvania primary proves Donald Trump still has to win over moderates

Opinion

editorial

By Post Editorial Board

Pennsylvania Republicans just sent a warning to former President Donald Trump: A good chunk of the party’s supporters still need some convincing.

Trump won the state’s primary race Tuesday with 83.5% of the vote, but lost 155,000 votes to Nikki Haley, who, well, isn’t even running.

Losing 16.5% of the primary vote in a swing state to a candidate who dropped out in March is a red flag worth noting.

Yes, the latest Bloomberg/Morning Consult poll put Trump comfortably ahead in four swing states (Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina).

And yes, his team put hardly any effort into this last primary.

But that general-election poll shows he’s barely ahead in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, while President Biden has emerged a lead in Michigan — and it’s a long way to November.

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If Trump wants to decisively clinch a win on Election Day, his team needs to read the tea leaves: He still has work to do in winning over some traditional Republicans and right-leaning independents, who may still not vote at all, or even choose Biden.

He’s been taking steps in the right direction: After GOP discontent threatened to oust Speaker Mike Johnson over the House’s passage of a $95.3 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, Trump defended him, calling Johnson “a good person” and pointing out that Republicans “have a majority of one,” and, “It’s not like he can go and do whatever he wants to do.”

This proves that Trump’s fundamentally on the side of health when it comes to supporting our allies — and that, for all his record of being a one-man show, he can be a team player who understands how Washington works.

It also shows he’s not going to leave Republican leaders to flap in the wind just to take a jab at the “establishment” when national security is on the line.

Also wise were Trump’s recent words about leaving abortion to the states and slamming that zero-abortions Arizona court ruling as going “too far,” a sign he won’t press the hot-button issue if elected.

But given it is a big, if not the biggest, talking point Biden will focus on these next few months, he needs to keep repeating his line to suburban moms.

Another thing Trump can do to win over moderates: Let Biden’s gaffes dominate the headlines, instead of making news with explosive statements of their own.

There’s no avoiding it: The Donald has a big personality; it often works in his favor — unless he’s giving the media a reason to focus on comments they can spin as outlandish comments (see the false “bloodbath” storm last month).

He needs to be aware: Some 15% of Republican voters have said their No. 1 concern about Trump is “his mouth.”

His long focus on the “stolen” 2020 election eroded his support among Republicans; it was Democrats’ mounting “lawfare” persecutions (a authentic set of outrages) that set him up to march to the nomination.

But he still needs to seal the deal with the doubters: Showing he’s fundamentally on the same side as regular Republicans, not the old do-nothing establishment nor the pointless-posturing Matt Gaetzes and Marjorie Taylor Greenes, is the way to build an unstoppable coalition.