Donald Trump may have proven that he can actually read from a teleprompter over the past couple of weeks, but that isn’t doing much for him with many GOP senators who not only dislike his policies but aren't feeling much pressure from their constituents to back him. Politico reports:
It’s not just die-hard conservatives or centrists: Republicans from across the spectrum remain unconvinced by Trump’s course adjustments. For many rank-and-file members, whatever improvements Trump manages haven’t made up for a year of headline-grabbing gaffes, from his initial call to ban Muslims from entering the U.S. to remarks disparaging an American judge of Mexican descent.
“Today, I’m opposed to his campaign,” said Sen. Dean Heller of Nevada. “He did a lot of damage. It’s very difficult for him, as far as I’m concerned, to recover from his previous comments. I’ll give him a chance, but at this point, I have no intentions of voting for him.”
The list of either "no" or "wait and see" senators includes: Ben Sasse of Nebraska, Susan Collins of Maine, Mike Lee of Utah, and Jeff Flake of Arizona. That’s by no means exhaustive but gives you a sense of the ideological range of doubters. While some people in leadership, like Mitch McConnell, are simply begging Trump to get more predictable and less overtly racist and discriminatory (a total fool's errand, btw), other senators are lamenting the fact that he's got no real conservative values.
“I wonder if there isn’t somebody lurking within him who really wants to leap out and promote federalism and separation of powers and talk about how he’s going to reform Washington,” [Sen.] Lee said a bit wistfully.
Just quit it, Lee—Trump is nothing if not obsessed with himself.
Even if he could grasp the idea of separation of powers, he'd flat out reject it. He's a one-man show and he'll view Congress members as nothing but his minions if he's elected. So the McConnells and Lees of the senate can go right on hoping against hope that Trump will stop being Trump, but it’s gonna be a long wait. Sad!