Today he takes Republican leaders to task for ignoring the wishes of Republican voters. See what he writes:
Let us concede that a loss for Trump still seems likelier than not, and catastrophic down-ballot losses for Republicans are possible.As we noted weeks ago, a movement can find new leaders much more easily than a group of leaders can find a new group to lead. In fact the spurned Tea Party folks made common cause with blue collar America and, viola, Donald Trump.
The notion that the party could “cut Trump loose,” however, is fantasy, and not only because the ballots are already printed. Politico commissioned a poll by Morning Consult Saturday—immediately after the tape’s release, but before the debate—that found 74% of Republicans wanted the party to stick with Trump; only 13% favored dumping him.
The Post’s Robert Costa (snip) tweeted today: “In calls this morning, many Rs privately want to defect from Trump. But they say the debate gave them pause since he roused their base.”
“Base” is political jargon for voters, specifically for a party’s most loyal voters. We can’t fault Republican politicians who find Trump’s comments repugnant or who worry about their political fallout. But how can a party function, or even survive, if its leaders are at odds with its voters?
Trump’s behavior has often exacerbated that divide, but his nomination was primarily an effect of it. A plurality of Republican voters rejected the conventional GOP candidates—a majority if you consider Cruz to be, in his own way, an unconventional candidate. Some Nevertrump commentators have been forthright in blaming the voters for the party’s current predicament. If the politicians adopt that approach, they won’t have a party for long.
It will be so fine if Trump wins and the Nevertrumpers and the endorsement withdrawers have to eat large, rancid, maggoty portions of crow. Unlikely, to be sure, but wonderful if it happens.
