There are a whole lot of Republicans waking up to a very ugly reality this week—they're running on a ballot that's got Donald Trump's name right there at the top. For all those Senate Republicans up this cycle, it's a nightmare that they somehow think they can stave off by pretending it isn't so, a contorted mix of pledging party loyalty and refusing to acknowledge the party's standard-bearer.
Not one Senate Republican up for reelection this November has openly, unreservedly endorsed Trump, a stunning situation for a party's nominee. Only Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) has formally backed him so far.
What Sen. Kelly Ayotte's (R-N.H.) campaign said in a statement on Wednesday was typical of how her Republican colleagues are handling their standard bearer: She will "support the nominee," it said, without mentioning the word, "Trump." […]
So did Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), one of the most endangered Republicans this fall.
"As Ron has repeatedly said for months, he intends to support the Republican nominee, but he's focused on the concerns of Wisconsinites — not national political winds," said Brian Reisinger, spokesman for Johnson's reelection campaign.
Trump is the new Voldemort, even for candidates in the reddest states, including North Dakota's Sen. John Hoeven. His spokesman says "I can tell you that he is not endorsing in the presidential race and that he will support the nominee of the party." A source supposedly close to Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) says "he wouldn't be endorsing Trump and didn't want to talk about him," but would "support the nominee." Ditto Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-GA), who "has said all along that he’ll support the ticket." North Carolina's Richard Burr was the only incumbent included in this story willing to utter the name. He tweeted "I look forward to working with Mr. Trump at the top of the ticket and to maintaining a #GOP Senate."
But he doesn't look forward to it enough to be willing to go to the big Trump showcase at the Republican convention this summer. "Neither will Ayotte, Johnson or GOP Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, John McCain of Arizona, Mark Kirk of Illinois, Jerry Moran of Kansas or Roy Blunt of Missouri." Like that'll inoculate them. The denial here, it runs unbelievably deep. Like this, from Ohio's Rob Portman. "We just run our own campaign. ... We've been prepared to run ahead of the top of the ticket for the last year."
If you don't say his name, no one will notice that he's running on the same ticket! Yeah, that'll work.
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