Marty Walsh to swing through Trump districts to hype Democrats

In a move that will undoubtedly stoke speculation about his own political future, Mayor Martin J. Walsh will kick off a tour of Midwest states that figured prominently in Donald Trump’s 2016 victory to stump for like-minded Democrats and rally local laborers this week.

The second-term mayor is scheduled to fly to Ohio Thursday before visiting Indiana for a two-day trip through Republican-leaning districts where Democrats are vying for open congressional seats or mounting challenges to longtime incumbents.

In the weeks ahead, Walsh said, he is also planning a similar trip through Iowa and Wisconsin — two states that, like the mayor’s destinations this week, voted for President Trump.

Lamenting that he didn’t do more campaigning to help Hillary Clinton, Walsh said the trips are part of him taking a “very active” role through the 2020 presidential election. His hope, he said, is to use his personal story and labor roots to help connect the Democratic Party with middle-class voters it may have lost to Trump’s populist message in 2016.

Read more: https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2018/07/17/marty-walsh-next-stop-trump-country/0KHEq5ZyxAMVAqHjqNLPFJ/story.html