Trump still has the backing of his hard-core supporters and those others who don’t particularly like him but suffer Hillary Derangement Syndrome. Those comprise perhaps 35% of the electorate, and a yuuuuge portion of the Republican Party.
Last night, he spoke directly to his base. His attacks on the Clintons were red meat to them. They seem to be sticking with him, because what he said was music to their ears. He’s not dropping out or offering to step aside or any of those far-fetched scenarios. So the GOP is stuck with this guy, and his half-hearted non-apology. The guy who hovered over Hillary last night like some sort of predator, creeping out a large portion of the audience with his non-verbals.
That puts the rest of the GOP in an impossible position. The GOP Senate and House candidates are faced with a choice between two dreadful options.
They can disavow Trump entirely — and reach out to Independents and Democrats — and say they are horrified by Trump’s remarks and actions. At a time when he is sinking in the polls, that might seem to be a good strategy. He and his campaign have become a superfund site, overflowing with toxic waste.
But Trump has solidified his base, and Trumpublicans are warning wavering candidates not to stab their hero in the back. Any Republican Senate or House candidate who speaks ill of Trump at this time of crisis is a traitor to them, and they are threatening to respond in kind. Nearly every one of Trump’s supporters has been backing Republicans up and down the ticket, but if the Ayottes, Hecks, Toomeys, and others walk away from the Donald, they risk losing the votes of their largest single bloc of supporters: the Trump Kool-Aiders. If even one in ten Trumpublicans withhold their votes for downticket GOP candidates as payback, those candidates are dead meat. It’s as simple as that.
In the words of that great old union song, “Which Side Are You On?”
Downticket Republican candidates must choose between the majority of voters — by disavowing Trump — or the majority of their own base — by continuing to support him. It’s sort of like a choice between hanging or shooting.
But at least no one’s appointing a special prosecutor and putting them in jail.
