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Trump rally in Colorado Springs will include second headliner: Mike Pence

By 02/19/2020 | updated 7 years ago

Amid a western campaign swing aimed at bolstering Republicans in Congress, President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence will both appear at a Colorado Springs campaign rally Thursday, the White House confirmed.

Many locals want President Trump to address space issues, including his creation of the Space Force. They also are hoping that Trump could deliver the military’s top space unit, U.S. Space Command, to Colorado Springs on a permanent basis. While Mike Pence has appeared at many Trump rallies, his presence in Colorado Springs could signal an emphasis on space at the rally since he spent Wednesday touring a NASA facility in Virginia and has been the administration’s point man on space issues.

President Trump’s Thursday rally in Colorado Springs: Your survival guide

The 5 p.m. rally is set for the Broadmoor World Arena, which was setting up an outdoor viewing screen in anticipation of an overflow crowd. Admission was on a first-come basis and tickets were available Wednesday at Trump’s campaign website: www.donaldjtrump.com.

Despite an incoming snowstorm, a few locals set up tents outside the venue Wednesday afternoon so they could get prime seats. They also took to Trump’s favorite social media platform Thursday.

“Hello @realDonaldTrump I can’t wait to see and support you tomorrow at the trump rally in Colorado Springs,” Twitter user Johnny Cahill wrote.

The presence of Pence, who heads the administration’s Space Council and was instrumental in Trump’s push to create a new Space Force, and Trump’s choice of a visit to Colorado Springs make it likely the president will hit on space issues during his remarks at the rally.

The Space Force, now being built at Peterson Air Force Base, was penned into existence by Trump in December.

Local leaders also hope Trump comes bearing space-themed gifts. Colorado Springs is in the running to become the permanent home of U.S. Space Command, which is now temporarily based here.

EDITORIAL: Tell the whole country where Space Command belongs

Trump could deliver the command, which oversees the space efforts of all military branches, in his speech.

Delivering Space Force could also boost Trump’s efforts to hold the GOP majority in the Senate. Republican U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner is heading for a tough battle to keep his seat with former Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper leading a pack from his party in the race.

Trump’s western campaign swing this week has focused on gaining seats in the House and maintaining the GOP lead in the Senate. In addition to touting Gardner, Trump is also stumping for Arizona Republican U.S. Sen. Martha McSally.

To win statewide, Gardner would have to come up big in El Paso County, home of the state’s deepest pool of Republican voters.

In 2014, Gardner won the seat by taking 62 percent of the El Paso County vote. The 70,000-vote margin Gardner picked up in El Paso County gave him a 39,000-vote win over incumbent U.S. Sen. Mark Udall.

If Gardner gets a victory to tout on the campaign trail, like the awarding of U.S. Space Command, it could boost his profile with voters here, several insiders have said.

Pence in 2017 visited space troops at Schriever Air Force Base for a briefing on military space missions.

The military’s constellation of communication, missile warning and navigation satellites is controlled at Schriever, which is also home to the National Space Defense Center.

Trump will also be visiting a state where he’s gained increased Repblican loyalty since his last Colorado campaign stop in 2016.
 
“The president’s popularity is through the roof with Republicans, and he maintains exceptionally high popularity with the base,” said Kyle Kohli, the Colorado spokesman for the Republican National Committee,.
 
Trump held his last rally in Colorado on Nov. 5, 2016, just three days before the election, when he appeared at the National Western Complex in Denver, a week after back-to-back appearances in Golden and Greeley.
 
Only weeks before the election, two of the state’s most prominent elected Republicans had called on Trump to withdraw from the race. In the wake of the release of the Access Hollywood tape, Gardner and U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman both pulled their support from Trump and said they weren’t going to vote for him.
 
That’s the point when former state GOP chairman Dick Wadhams thinks Trump lost whatever chance he’d had to carry Colorado
 
“That was the key event,” he said. “I think that’s when he lost Colorado, though I don’t think it affected his performance in the midwestern states that won him the election.”
 
Wadhams said he never would have voted for Clinton but was “very discouraged by Trump’s behavior.” What swung it for him was when Trump released a list of potential Supreme Court nominees. 
 
“Fast-forward almost four years, I still have a problem with his behavior – it still drives me nuts – but I am more than happy with the overall performance of his administration, the tax cuts, judicial nominations, deregulation. That’s why I think he owns the Republican Party now.”
 
Ryan Winger, the director of data analysis for Magellan Strategists, a Louisville-based Republican polling and political consulting firm, said the data backs that up. 

“For the establishment and influencers to come around, Trump had to prove himself – let’s see what he does. To their pleasant surprise, they found it was more or less what they would expect from a conventional Republican president,” Winger said.
 
Since Trump was inaugurated in January 2019, he said, the firm’s polling has found consistently high levels of support for Trump among Republicans, topping 90% – an unprecedented level of party support for a president.
 
“Before the election, Republicans weren’t totally gung ho, but once he became president, it’s almost as though they view it hurts the party if they’re unhappy with Trump,” Winger said.
 

Kristie Long, resident of Fountain, sets up her tent in line to camp overnight, with the help of Ken Reed, right, outside the Broadmoor World Arena in preparation for President Donald Trump’s Colorado Springs campaign rally in Colorado Springs, Colo., on Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2020. The White House confirmed Vice President Mike Pence will appear with President Donald Trump at the campaign rally on Thursday. (Chancey Bush/ The Gazette)
Chancey Bush The Gazette
Vice President Mike Pence, right, enters the National Space Defense Center for a briefing while touring Schriever Air Force Base Friday, June 23, 2017, during his visit to Colorado Springs, Colo. (AP Photo Pool, The Gazette, Christian Murdock)
CHRISTIAN MURDOCK
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