Seventeen Republican candidates started the run. So many that it was inevitable that a few would have to bow out early. Rick Perry, finding that he was no longer the darling of those who had funded his fumbles in 2012, picked September 11th to sneak out of the game, but he left a parting message.
“We have a tremendous field — the best in a generation — so I step aside knowing our party is in good hands.”
Perry’s words weren’t meant to be ironic. For years, pundits have been referring to the Republican “deep bench” and practically fanning their faces over the heat coming off the field of hot new talent the Republicans had on hand for this election cycle. Early on, there was every expectation that we’d be looking at a Scott Walker at the top of the ticket, representing the new crop of Republican governors who have surged into traditionally blue states to kick labor in the teeth. Or we’d get a Marco Rubio to show that Republicans can pull in young voters and reach into the Hispanic community. Or we’d have Jeb! at the top of the ticket showing… some people never get tired of sequels.
That’s not how it worked out. You know Christie and Carson, Pataki and Jindal, Walker and Perry and… let’s just skip it. There was one very special reindeer in the group. One with an orange glow that cut through the fog of familiarity.
The Republican bench proved to be as deep as an oil-slick on a mud puddle. What they got was Trump.
For a party that usually rallies around its presumptive nominee quickly, the brutal primary campaign and the questions about Mr. Trump’s substance and style have fueled a remarkable level of dissatisfaction — antipathy that will not fade simply because Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and Gov. John Kasich of Ohio have ceded the race to him.
Now they have to live with him.
It’s not unusual for a primary season to drive schisms into a party. It certainly happens for Democrats, and it happens for Republicans, too.
However, at least in those days before tea became the drink of choice, Republicans have been an orderly lot. Once the numbers are clear, they fall in line, direct all guns left, and start thinking about how they can position themselves so that it’s Their Turn Next Time.
But this year, that’s going to be difficult. While there was a good deal of chuckling when Trump first took a spot behind a podium, many Republicans fell into waiting for the primaries to get “serious,” an event that would be marked by voters turning away from Trump and voting for all the candidates they were supposed to be supporting. When it finally became clear—way, way, way too late—that serious would never come on its own, Republicans piled onto a number of leaky vessels in an attempt to waylay S. S. Trump. Had they moved against Trump on substantive issues in the early days, both party unity and the party might have been saved. But they were too busy enjoying the extra attention Trump’s participation garnered,
All the little #NeverTrumps and #NoTrumps and cross-state collusion attempts never really had a chance to sink the leader. Still, they sure do make getting everyone together for a good round of post-primary Republican kumbaya more than a little problematic.
While some called for unity, many Republican leaders refrained from falling in line behind Mr. Trump, with dozens avoiding inquiries about where they stood or saying they wanted Mr. Trump to detail his policies or tone down his language first. Others tied themselves in knots as they praised and criticized Mr. Trump in a single breath, or suggested that they could abide Mr. Trump but loathed his agenda.
Kelly Ayotte attempted to outdo Bill Clinton’s “definition of is” by drawing an invisible line between “supporting” and “endorsing.” Other Republicans have been quick to say they’ll support the candidate, so long as they don’t have to name the candidate. And certainly not if they have to be put on the spot to support any of the things the candidate they’re supporting might have said about… oh, women? Minorities? The current president’s birth certificate?
Of course, some people aren’t getting much of a choice.
For some in the party, the question of whether to embrace Mr. Trump is not merely an intellectual exercise. Some staff members at the Republican National Committee were told Wednesday that if they were unable to get behind the nominee, they should leave by the end of the week.
Still, there are some people who have found the faint glow of a silver lining in Trump’s misogynistic cloud.
“I know a lot of Republicans who are in red-leaning districts in blue states who see Trump as more helpful to them than they would have Cruz,” Mr. Cole said, citing Representative Elise Stefanik, who represents a sprawling district in upstate New York.
See? If you look hard enough, you can find the good in any situation. At least they’re not running with Ted Cruz.