Some establishment Republicans are fretting over Donald Trump’s sexist attacks on Hillary Clinton, not that they can change anything. You’ve got Trump himself saying Clinton doesn't have a presidential look, his son saying Clinton’s health is fair game, and Republican National Committee Chair Reince Priebus criticizing her for not smiling more when discussing terrorism and veteran suicides. So a few concerned consultants not connected to the campaign are not exactly speaking for their party on this one:
For women who “have had to put up with inappropriate suggestions about their appearance or stamina, it probably doesn’t sit really well when they come out of the mouth of a presidential candidate,” said GOP pollster Whit Ayres, who is not supporting Trump.
No, it probably doesn’t! Probably doesn’t sit really well when they come out of the mouth of a presidential candidate’s surrogates, either, but:
Rob Stutzman, a Sacramento-based GOP consultant, said Trump could have avoided giving his opponents an opening if he had been more careful with his language. [...]
“If done with some nuance, you can raise reasonable questions about your opponent’s health, but Trump doesn’t have any nuance, so it’s been this brutal sledgehammer declaring she is unfit,” Stutzman added. “A smart campaign would have reasonable third party raising those questions in a respectful way.”
This is today’s Republican Party for you: respectable, responsible types are concerned it looks bad to have the nominee himself engaging in sledgehammer attacks and wish his campaign would farm the attacks out to get a degree of distance. Meanwhile, not only the nominee but the party chair is on team screw subtlety.
Can you please chip in $3 to help elect Hillary Clinton?