The watchwords for Republicans in campaign 2016: "alarm," "landslide," "ugly," and "big trouble." And that’s just on the Senate side.
For months, top GOP leaders had counseled their candidates to run their own races, separate themselves from the ugly back-and-forth of the presidential contest and focus on the accomplishments Republicans have achieved on Capitol Hill for their home states.
But in interviews with top Republicans in Washington, several privately told CNN that there's not much they can do if Trump loses in each of the battleground states by 10 points or more. And they are pushing Trump hard to right the ship -- namely by focusing exclusively on Hillary Clinton and seizing on her vulnerabilities -- to help avoid an electoral bloodbath in the fall.
"If it's 10 points or more, we are in big trouble," said one top Republican, who asked not to be named to talk candidly about the Senate landscape.
They are desperate for Trump not to be Trump:
In a private meeting this week at a Phoenix airport, Sen. John McCain of Arizona urged Trump's running mate, Mike Pence, to keep the top of the ticket trained on Clinton—and not engage in squabbles with other Republicans or distractions like his recent feud with Muslim-American parents whose son was killing while serving in the Iraq War, according to a source familiar with the session. Pence, the source said, agreed.
As if the likes of Trump could be controlled by the likes of Pence. Here's another option for McCain, or any of the other panicky Republicans—dump Trump. Denounce him, unendorse him, distance yourself from him and his policies. But that means dealing with the larger problem: Trump is the Republicans’ creation. They built this.
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