Abandoning Trump
Why don’t Republican congressmen and senators abandon Trump? They may believe him to be an idiot, incompetent and corrupt but that is not nearly enough to abandon him. Their public positions are determined purely to help their odds of reelection. Principles are irrelevant. There are three group they could conceivably court:
- Democrats. Highly unlikely to vote Republican under any circumstances.
- Republicans who support Trump. Will vote Republican only for candidates who support Trump.
- Republicans who are disappointed in Trump. Will vote Republican only for candidates who do not support Trump.
So long as (2) is bigger than (3), Republican politicians have to support Trump. As soon as (3) is about to become bigger than (2), candidates will drop their support for Trump overnight.
Regardless whether (3) is bigger than (2), Republicans candidates are in trouble if the Republican voters stay split on Trump. Republican politicians, no matter what they do, will lose almost half their votes.
The best strategy then for Republican politicians is to all lie through their teeth in praise of Trump, all lie through their teeth about Trump’s negatives, and count on the American people being stupid enough to believe them.
The odd thing is Republicans are pushing through legislation like the repeal of health care, the budget with the repeal of the safety net, and tax cuts for the superwealthy that are highly unpopular. You’d think there were trying to lose the next elections.
~ Roedy (1948-02-04 age:70)