Republicans Weigh Abandoning Their Nominee

[brooklynite]

Source: Political Wire

New York Times: “Republicans now say Mr. Trump’s obstinacy in addressing perhaps the gravest crisis of his campaign may trigger drastic defections within the party, and Republican lawmakers and strategists have begun to entertain abandoning him en masse.”


Read more: https://politicalwire.com/2016/08/02/republicans-weigh-abandoning-their-nominee/

[First Speaker]

1. Fuck you, you assholes...

...you created this Frankenstein monster; you go down with him.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

4. ABSO-FUCKING-LUTELY!!

[Judi Lynn]

48. Stay loyal to your hero, buttheads. He's the best you can do. n/t

[vadermike]

2. they probably will

But they will focus all their energies on downticket.. we must fight like hell to get the Senate at least!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Beartracks]

19. This ^^^! They'll focus on down-ticket races to retain Congress.

Hey, EVERYBODY!

GO VOTE -- *this* year, and TWO YEARS FROM NOW, and every local election that pops up in your city/state.



====================

[lady lib]

26. Don't boo, vote! nt

[Beartracks]

27. This, too! ^^^ n/t

[liberalmuse]

32. I started voting in every election years ago.

President Obama was right - it's voting in the local races that make the biggest difference if you want justice.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

43. Yup. Win state Legislatures key to end gerrymandering --> districting w independent commissions. nt

[groundloop]

25. HOWEVER... if people don't go to the polls then down-ticket candidates don't get votes

That's the beauty of tRump turning away so many of the party faithful. Maybe, just maybe, we can take a decent number of House and Senate seats back.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

44. Still early days, but Princeton El. Cons. tracking has just turned above "control the House"

[font size = "+1"]. . . Make it so![/font]


http://election.princeton.edu/house-polling-margin/

[vadermike]

3. they cant replace him

becasue that would cause more damage downticket.....

[unitedwethrive]

46. Exactly!

[jberryhill]

5. Like they did at the convention?

No, Republicans, you do not get to wake up and realize it was a bad dream. It is the cul de sac into which you have been leading your merry band for decades.

[msanthrope]

14. It is a literal cul de sac. nt

[awoke_in_2003]

20. I am thinking more the alley way...

ala the marching band in Animal House.

[jberryhill]

31. Ooh, good one

[awoke_in_2003]

36. Thank you

https://m.

[awoke_in_2003]

37. Remain calm, all is well

https://m.

[awoke_in_2003]

41. My god

I was 10 when this came out, and watched it with my father. I guess that kind of explains my attitude toward authority. Always question it.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

28. It's more like flying your plane into a box canyon

whereupon you discover, too late, that you don't have enough room to turn around or enough power to climb out.

[GulfCoast66]

49. Rat hole

Is more accurate.

[Tal Vez]

6. President Obama has made it impossible for the GOP to dump Trump.

The one thing that they cannot do is follow the advice of President Obama. I think that he made his remarks today to prevent the GOP from dumping Trump.

[First Speaker]

7. Check, and mate...

...twelve-dimensional chess, anyone?..

[bucolic_frolic]

10. Here, here!

Obama just gets better with age. Every time I said to myself, they've
got him this time, he kicks it up ten notches. He is ALWAYS way ahead
of the game.

[morningglory]

21. You tell a 4-yr-old to do the opposite of what you really want. nt

[harun]

66. lol, too easy

[RapSoDee]

47. + 1,000

#ComradeTrump & #ComeradeManafort are the very quintessence of Latter-Day Republicanism.

Obama spoke truth to Republican power, such as it is,
and called them out on their glaring dishonoring of America
by bringing Don the Con into the election and on to the
world stage.

Will the Republicans redeem themselves and finally take a stand
for honor and integrity and true service to the classic American Ideals
by kicking Trump under the bus? At this point, the answer is NO.

[sarae]

56. hah!

Yep. Yesterday the talking heads were implying the President was stupid for thinking that he, of all people, would get Republicans to abandon Trump. I think that was exactly President Obama's plan.

Republicans: dumbest political party ever?

[William Seger]

8. Nah, ride it out, guys

[alittlelark]

24. I prefer this analogy....

[longship]

39. "Madness! Madness!"

I've been posting this cultural reference these days. The climax and ending of "The Bridge over the River Kwai". The last two words spoken in the film are both "Madness!"

It is a really great film.

Here it is with some context:

[independentpiney]

58. I had seen that movie 3 or 4 times as a young boy

and never fully understood it. Recently watched it again, and what a fantastic movie it is.

[longship]

59. Thank you. And it is complete and utter madness.

The GOP is off the charts. Lots of predictions here, none of which make any sense whatsoever. But that is what happens in a clusterfuck.

17 candidates and this is who they choose.

Madness! Madness!

[William Seger]

60. But buying a ticket on the Titanic probably seemed like a safe bet

I think buying a ticket to ride a gigantic bag of explosive gas is a better analogy.

[bucolic_frolic]

9. Boxed In

They will look weak, wavering and stupid if they repudiate Trump.
They blessed his candidacy explicitly or with silent obeisance.

Trump voters will punish the GOP for abandoning Trump.

I still think they'll try to replace him through legal maneuvering.

If they dump Trump and tell the public they did it for the good of their
country, they might save some of themselves. But they might destroy
themselves with that too, because they'd be trying to hide their
political souls, which is what brought on the Tea Party phenomena
in the first place.

[RobinA]

61. Dumping Trump

"for the good of the country" plays right into the Trump narrative and strengthens him. Trump - "Here comes the establishment to banish me, the truth-telling, honest talking, antiestablishment guy who is the only person who can get things done because I threaten their ways."

[tblue37]

68. They probably hope they can persuade him to drop out using the excuse of a

suddenly appearing medical issue.

[RAFisher]

11. WTF is wrong with Republicans? How do they not know how to run a primary campaign?

They just didn't really attack him during the primary. DNC operatives said Republicans only used about 20% of the dirt they had on Trump. Democrats seem to be able to have tough Primary campaigns and then support the candidate.

[lady lib]

12. I asked this in another thread and didn't hear back.

Would they encourage write-ins or voting for the Libertarian candidate, or would they actually run someone else?

What is the process for replacing a candidate after the convention?

If no one knows that's okay. I just thought I'd ask.

[Sand Rat Expat]

15. Unsure, since it's never happened.

If it were me, I'd do everything I could to cut funding to his campaign through the RNC, by fair means or foul. And the movers and shakers in the GOP are still free to speak their minds, so their best course here would be to admit to making a horrible mistake, then assert that they've seen the light! Encourage the non-frothing section of the party to either stay home, write in a Savior Candidate (whomever they decide on, it doesn't matter, they won't beat Hillary), or vote Libertarian. Basically tell them to do anything but vote for Trump. And then I'd focus all my resources, every penny, on downticket races to hold as many seats in Congress as possible.

The True Believers™ would follow Trump into the mouth of hell itself, so just cut them loose and accept that they'll howl if the GOP abandons their Chosen One. There's no salvaging them, but the GOP can try to save itself as an entity. It'll definitely damage their long-term viability as a party, but better that than go down with the Trumptanic. It's certain oblivion versus maybe oblivion, the way I see it.

That's just what I'd do, if I were sitting high up in the RNC. They must be drinking Pepto in Super Big Gulp cups these days.

[lady lib]

23. That's sounds spot on, thank you! nt

[Dopers_Greed]

13. What are their options?

(a) Dump him from the ticket: Their new candidate would probably poll higher nationally, but this would sure piss off the GOP's lunatic base, hurting down ticket candidates. Trump may choose to run 3rd party as well, which would mean a guaranteed Dem victory.

(b) Keep him on the ticket: He'll continue to implode into a downward spiral. The worse he performs in polls, the more desperate and unhinged he'll get.

[Sand Rat Expat]

17. All things considered, I'd go with Option A if I were them.

Give up on the Presidency and do everything possible to salvage downticket races. If they follow Trump into the drain, he'll prove so toxic the downticket races will be a loss anyway. Try to salvage at least some dignity and long-term viability out of the clusterfuck they've created for themselves.

All things considered, Trump's True Believers™ aren't a majority, but they're very, very, very vocal. If the primary field hadn't been split umpteen ways from the start, I don't think he'd be where he is. Either way, the GOP would be better off cutting the Trumpanzees loose.

[still_one]

16. It is now so late that it is virtually impossible if they wanted to run a third party. It is highly

unlikely they could get the signatures required to get on the ballot:

https://ballotpedia.org/Filing_deadlines_and_signature_requirements_for_independent_presidential_candidates,_2016

However, the one strategy they could to organize to vote for Gary Johnson, and while that would take votes away from Trump, it could potentially throw the election to the house. That would still be a long shot, but possible

[roamer65]

34. They'll go for broke and try to shove it into the House.

I expect a few western states normally (R) will go (L).

[GulfCoast66]

50. Nope

The Republicans and Libertarians will split the conservacrazy votes.

And the Democratic Party will win.

[Hekate]

18. Go down with the Titanic, folks

[Yallow]

22. Why? Don The Con Is Pure Republican 100% -- All His Hate Is What They Are

The fact that too many people are starting to figure it out is their problem. Not the fact that Trump's supporters are the people Fox News and Rush bred to be the New Republican Party. Angry drooling zombies who believe nonsense, and repeat it as the holy bible.

[Doctor Jack]

29. I have never seen anything like this

This party has lost its collective minds. Those that have any sense left will run for the hills and hope that the Trump plague doesn't infect them. Any of these people like Ryan or McCain with their denouncing statements but refusal to not support him are already toxic. There are only a handful of smart republicans, like Flake and Kasich that will survive this.

[BayouBengal07]

30. I think this is a ruse.

They go public with "private" misgivings/threats to withdraw support, in the hopes it nudges him into shutting up or finally finding that elusive pivot to the general. They'd never actually act on any of this.

[Gman]

33. It's probably the only viable way to try to at least

Protect the House Majority. They will likely lose the Senate.

[Algernon Moncrieff]

35. This American Life did an interesting piece

They interviewed Doug Deason (billionare family, part of Freedom Partners and good friends with Charles Koch).

http://m.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/591/transcript

The Deasons wanted to support Cruz, but he fizzled. Koch wouldn't meet with Trump. But the Deasons decided better-Trump-than-Hillary. They wrote to Koch urging him to sit down with Trump. Koch still says "no." Mind that this was before the Khan debacle. So if the ultraconservative were conflicted then, how about now?
*****

My thought: Trump has been immune to gaffes for the entire campaign. Had he not gone after Mrs. Khan, he'd have probably been OK. Instead he 2x down on a Gold Star mother. Bad politics 101. Now, what seemed like Trump being Trump in a way that would quickly wash out of the news cycle looks more like a repeat of the 47% remark -something that will dog him from this point on.

[VMA131Marine]

38. NO matter how much they might want to, the Republican Party cannot abandon Trump

Their only hope of not getting devastated in the House and Senate races is to stick together and go down with the Trump-ship. If they abandon Trump now, my guess is that their base will be so furious that they will either vote 3rd party or not vote at all on the down-ballot races.

[Rex]

40. .

?189db0

[63splitwindow]

42. The Con counters Mr. Khan's "vicious attack"...

[olddad56]

45. If the republican party hadn't been hijacked by the Tea Party, Donald wouldn't even be the nominee.

The GOP would have probably had a candidate that could have possibly beaten Hillary.

Not that I would have voted for that person, but many would have.

[liberal N proud]

51. Two weeks ago, they threw him a fucking party

This is the candidate that they created, the Frankenstein Candidate.

Trump embodies tenfold, everything the republican party has practiced for years.

[LisaL]

54. And he got millions of votes.

[whistler162]

52. And a carpenter will lead them...

well okay a Construction company owner and retiring Congressman(Richard Hanna).

[mucifer]

53. If it's really bad for them then people will be too angry at their party to even vote

for senate or house. But, then again they can use lots of scare tactics regarding the supreme court.

Either way, with the short attention spans people have, things can turn back to trumps favor within 3 months.

[Trust Buster]

55. I call this the Orange Summer. Trump represents the Algerian street vendor. We have watched

for months as he's poured gasoline all over himself. Yesterday, with his campaign in crisis, he lit the match by attacking Republican leaders who have been taking political hits for supporting the guy. Will he put match to gasoline and self immolate ? Would it be fair to Hillary for a fresh and unvetted Kasich to stroll onto center stage ? I think we should temper our joy folks.

[underpants]

57. They could just withhold cash like they did with Dole in 1996

The RNC realized that Dole simply had no chance of winning so they basically cut off funds to his campaign and directed them to other races.

That is an alternative but the inner war is mostly unavoidable now.

[sarcasmo]

62. Please let it be true.

[Cognitive_Resonance]

63. Their least disastrous option is to cut him loose. The longer they wait the uglier it will be. nt

[colsohlibgal]

64. Probably

It would likely still be a debacle but from what I hear they can still do it but time is running out to do it.

But can we imagine what would happen id they did? Can anyone think that would turn out well? Can you imagine the death throes of Trump and his rabid hard core followers, the real crazy racist core of them.

Not likely maybe but could the GOP go the way of the Whigs? Oh but then maybe they are more like the know No Nothing Party.

[NHDEMFORLIFE]

65. Very wary

By nature I am a worrier, even more so since the grand theft in 2000. As such I can see the GOP replacing Trump with someone closer to the mainstream, which the national media spins into an act of true statesmanship. The new nominee gets an extend media honeymoon period lasting well into September. The national media begins beating the drums on something negative towards Hillary. ...
Anyway, you can see my long-winded point.

All things considered, I want the bats--t crazy guy to continue on as the GOP's very own bats--t crazy guy.

[tblue37]

67. I hope they vacillate and drag this out a bit. nt

[Kennah]

69. Stay the course, and reassess on November 1 n/t