Steve Scalise Has Confused The Itinerary With The Election

Steve Scalise has discovered an unusually convenient measure of Republican electoral strength: the physical presence of Steve Scalise. It is an indicator he can improve simply by getting off the bus.

At a Nevada event for Republican House candidate Marty O'Donnell, the majority leader offered his own appearance as evidence that the party is on offense. Axios reports his question: “If it's some horrible cycle for Republicans, then why am I here?”

An excellent question for the travel coordinator. A rather less conclusive one for the electorate.

Scalise is making 56 campaign stops between August and Election Day. His tour has T-shirts and a map. Those are respectable instruments of political organization. They are not, however, votes. A map with a pin in Nevada establishes that someone has successfully located Nevada, an achievement for which the House leadership may deserve a modest certificate rather than another majority.

The awkward detail is that MAGA Inc. pulled nearly $1 million in advertising from O'Donnell's race the previous week. Scalise says the district remains winnable. It may be. A super PAC's spending decision does not determine an election, any more than a visiting congressional leader does. But if the visit is to be entered into evidence, the departing advertising money ought to be allowed into the room without buying a tour shirt.

This is the peculiar vanity of campaign management: activity by important people is offered as a substitute for evidence that less important people are persuaded. The leadership has arrived. The leadership is energized. The leadership has a schedule so demanding that its confidence must surely be correct.

One could almost forget that voters are permitted to interrupt a Republican winning streak.

There is real spending behind the broader operation. Axios reports a $3.5 million advertising push from a Scalise-aligned group supporting 52 House Republicans. His itinerary includes competitive Democratic-held districts as well as seats his party is defending. This is an actual campaign, not an imaginary one. The objection is to promoting its existence into proof of its success.

Democrats should be delighted to contest the seats and extremely wary of catching the same disease. An imposing route map does not become more scientific when the pins are blue. Winning requires the inconvenient participation of people who were not invited to design the merchandise.

Scalise's confidence may eventually be vindicated. Until November's votes supply the result, though, the tour can establish where he went, whom he supported and how many stops he managed. Congress already has abundant experience confusing attendance with accomplishment. It needn't take that act on the road and call the travel receipts a mandate.