Donald Trump's running mate, Mike Pence, probably expected to return to his former digs at the House of Representatives as the conquering hero. He left the House to become a governor, and then was elevated to the top of his party's 2016 ticket—a heartbeat away from a potential presidency. Too bad it's this potential president, because Pence's reception from his former colleagues was less than celebratory.
An otherwise friendly morning meeting with House Republicans turned awkward when Mr. Pence was pressed by Representative Jeff Fortenberry of Nebraska about Mr. Trump’s difficulties with women, said two House Republicans who relayed the conversation. Mr. Fortenberry told Mr. Pence that his young daughter had come to him and said, “Daddy, Donald Trump hates women,” according to one of the lawmakers, who both insisted on anonymity to recount a private conversation.
“It’s just not true,” Mr. Pence shot back, arguing that Mr. Trump was improving with women, the two House Republicans said.
Mr. Pence faced resistance again when he met privately with Senators Mike Lee of Utah and Ted Cruz of Texas, neither of whom has endorsed Mr. Trump. Mr. Lee pressed the governor on his reluctance to denounce Mr. Duke and the so-called alt-right movement more explicitly, stressing “that Republicans must identify David Duke’s racism as deplorable,” according to Conn Carroll, a spokesman for Mr. Lee. […]
Mr. Pence was greeted warmly by Senate Republicans when he joined them for a lunch of Chick-fil-A sandwiches, but received a firm rebuke from John McCain of Arizona, the chairman of the Armed Services Committee. Calling Vladimir V. Putin, the Russian president, “a thug and a butcher,” Mr. McCain said Mr. Trump’s embrace of the autocratic ruler was unacceptable, according to a Republican official present who also insisted on anonymity.
All of this happened behind closed doors, so we're relying on the reports from people in that room. That's because none of these people—John McCain, we're looking at you—are going to stand in front of cameras and publicly denounce Trump. That puts Pence in "a Willy Loman-meets-Henry Kissinger role" in which he must "sell elected Republicans on Mr. Trump’s merits less than two months before Election Day." Which Pence deserves for agreeing to be on this ticket in the first place.
But let's turn a moment from gloating over what Pence has gotten himself into to talk about those elected Republicans who are so reluctant to stand with him but won't denounce him. They can't denounce him, or his "deplorables" because that is their base. Because this is the Republican party they have created by refusing to stand against the worst of their supporters. Donald Trump is the inevitable outcome.
Can you chip in $3 to each of these candidates to get more Democrats into the House and take back the Senate? Pretty much everything depends on it.