Republicans just don't know what to do now that the GOP standard bearer is more likely to be remembered as carrying the water of neo-Nazis than fanning the flames of freedom. It's a horrific predicament choosing between morality and evil—what's a spineless politician to do? The New York Times writes:
The divisions played out in the starkly different responses across the party after Mr. Trump insisted that left-wing counterprotesters were as culpable as neo-Nazis and white supremacists for the bloodshed in Charlottesville, Va., over the weekend. Much of the right was ecstatic as they watched their president fume against the “violent” left and declare that “very fine people” were being besmirched for their involvement in the demonstration.
While GOP "leaders" like Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell side-stepped the fact that the guy they helped elect is providing cover and encouragement to racists with a lengthy history of supporting murderous causes, some Republicans said the party would pay a price for exactly that type of equivocation.
Among younger Republicans there was a sense that the damage would be profound and enduring.
“The last year and especially the last few days have basically erased 15 years of efforts by Republicans to diversify the party,” said David Holt, a 38-year-old Oklahoma state senator running for mayor of Oklahoma City. “If I tried to sell young people in general but specifically minority groups on the Republican Party today, I’d expect them to laugh me out of the room. How can you not be concerned when the country’s demographics are shifting away from where the Republican Party seems to be shifting now?” [...]
With midterm elections looming next year, Republican leaders find themselves in precarious territory, unwilling to abandon Mr. Trump for fear of losing his supporters even as the president’s position slips with the broader electorate.
“The political price we may pay almost should be catastrophic,” said Mike Murphy, a longtime Republican strategist.
Meanwhile, the ever cheery Steve Bannon reveled in Trump's efforts to stoke a race war.
Stephen K. Bannon, the president’s chief strategist, said in an interview that if Democrats want to fight over Confederate monuments and attack Mr. Trump as a bigot, that was a fight the president would win.
“President Trump, by asking, ‘Where does this all end’ — Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln — connects with the American people about their history, culture and traditions,” he said.
“The race-identity politics of the left wants to say it’s all racist,” Mr. Bannon added. “Just give me more. Tear down more statues. Say the revolution is coming. I can’t get enough of it.”
After that, Bannon ripped open his shirt, beat his chest, and let out a primal scream. Okay, not really. But he may as well have.
In the meantime, two polls this week marked a notable softening of support for Trump. He sank to a record-low 34 percent approval in Gallup's daily tracking poll and...
Seventy-nine percent of registered voters who identified as “strong Republicans” in the Marist Poll now approve of his job performance, compared with 91 percent in June.
The same Marist poll found that a strong majority of voters—61 percent—don't believe Trump's capable of leading during an “international crisis.” Can’t imagine that loss in confidence when his domestic crisis management skills have been so spot on.