The prospect of a Clinton presidency and of Democrats in control on Capitol Hill is nightmarish.
It’s all about Congress now.
On Friday evening, America discovered that Donald Trump is exactly the person everyone thought he was. It turns out that the same man who bragged about his adultery in his books, advertised his affair with Marla Maples in the pages of New York City’s tabloids, and publicly mused about never having the chance to seduce Princess Diana once bragged about being a serial groper. Well, who’d a thunk?
The fallout could be accurately described as catastrophic. More than 50 GOP federal officeholders, including several who had previously endorsed him, called on Trump to drop out of the race. Hugh Hewitt defected. Mike Pence and Kellyanne Conway vanished for nearly 48 hours. Rudy Giuliani was Trump’s sole surrogate on Sunday’s morning shows.
Fortunately for Trump, he stanched the bleeding at Sunday’s debate in St. Louis with a full-scale offensive against Hillary Clinton, perhaps the only person in the country whose struggles with honesty match his own. On Monday morning, Pence had emerged from his hidey-hole, tweeting “MAGA” and dilating on the sexual transgressions of Bill Clinton, and the odds of other Republicans abandoning Trump fell.
But that’s not good news.
Traditionally, there’s just one “October surprise.” But with Donald Trump, there’s material enough for a surprise every day of the month. It’s a matter of when, not if. Sources who worked with Trump during his years on The Apprentice suggest there is much more where the Access Hollywood tape came from. There is reportedly a recording of Trump using the N-word. And at Sunday’s debate, Trump flatly denied that he actually did any groping — so how long until Trump is faced with his own Kathleen Willey, Paula Jones, or Juanita Broaddrick?
Every day that Trump stays in the race is a day that swing voters flee to Hillary Clinton.
Trump’s unyielding narcissism, abetted by Republicans happy to toss aside decency and conservative principle for the chance of winning the White House, has created a nightmare scenario for GOP office-seekers. Every day that Trump stays in the race is a day that swing voters flee to Hillary Clinton. But if Trump were to drop out, much of his support might well stay home. Meanwhile, everyone is waiting for the next bomb to drop. On Saturday, Reince Priebus reportedly told RNC staffers to “do what is best for yourself.” On Monday, on a call with his conference, Paul Ryan told House Republicans to do the same. This is what a rout looks like.
For whatever is left of the institutional Republican party, expending resources to aid Donald Trump would be a grievous mistake. Perhaps a cataclysmic mistake or revelation damages Hillary Clinton fatally; perhaps Trump still, somehow, manages to win. But no one should be counting on it. Trump has bragged about his ability to self-fund; he should be left to do so now. He’s high-energy? Time to prove it.
#related#But at this late point, with Trump likelier than not to be damaged even further, every remaining resource — every nickel and dime, every College Republican volunteer, etc. — should be applied toward holding the Senate and the House. Hillary Clinton is likelier than ever to win by a wide margin next month, and when she does, she’ll claim a mandate. It should be Republicans’ most urgent priority to keep hold of the one institutional check on her power: to prevent the single-payer health-care program she might try to ram through, to prevent the resurrection of cap-and-trade, to block the appointment of the activist-masquerading-as-judge that she promised last night to appoint to the Supreme Court; to prevent, in a word, another 2009 — or worse. The prospect of a Clinton presidency is grim. The prospect of a Clinton presidency accompanied by a Democratic Congress is nightmarish.
If Donald Trump wants to steer the Trump Train over the tracks, fine. But Republicans shouldn’t let him take the country with him.