Senators Bob Corker and Jeff Flake have thrown in the towel. Trump has the support of GOP voters, and they knew it.
Democrats are reading Arizona Senator Jeff Flake's speech and feeling great. Big mistake.
A GOP Senator stands up and tells it like it is, as he sees it. He is getting it off his chest. Trump is an embarrassment. Trump is wrong. Trump is bad for America. The recklessness! The pettiness! The corrupting tone! The undermining of democratic norms!
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Democrats can read the speech and get a wonderful warm feeling of reassurance that they are winning. Actually, it is a terrible sign for Democrats. Trump is winning big.
The Flake speech was a concession speech. He is dropping out because Republican voters like Trump, not him, and Jeff Flake knows it.
Same with Bob Corker in Tennessee. Voters are with Trump there, too.
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| They conceded. |
Trump is so formidable that he does not even have to play out the primary election fight. Republican voters are with him. Corker and Flake saw the polls, they saw the energy moving to their primary opponents, and they folded their tents. They gave up without a fight, knowing they would lose big.
But what about the GOP revolt? What about the speeches in short succession by Corker, Flake, McCain, and then George W. Bush? Actually, so far it is a sign of the revolt's weakness, not strength.
Look who did not give the speeches: McConnell, Ryan, Congressmen and Senators running for re-election, cabinet officers, the RNC, Fox News. Anyone hoping to have a future in politics is keeping quiet. Corker, Flake, McCain, and Bush are has-beens, not players. They are leaving politics, have aggressive terminal cancer, or are retired from politics. They represent the abandoned past. Trump is the present and future, demonstrated by Corker and Flake dropping out.
But what about the GOP revolt? What about the speeches in short succession by Corker, Flake, McCain, and then George W. Bush? Actually, so far it is a sign of the revolt's weakness, not strength.
Look who did not give the speeches: McConnell, Ryan, Congressmen and Senators running for re-election, cabinet officers, the RNC, Fox News. Anyone hoping to have a future in politics is keeping quiet. Corker, Flake, McCain, and Bush are has-beens, not players. They are leaving politics, have aggressive terminal cancer, or are retired from politics. They represent the abandoned past. Trump is the present and future, demonstrated by Corker and Flake dropping out.
What about those polls showing Trump's favorability ratings in the 30s? He must be losing, right?
No. There are two ways to interpret those polls. One is that Trump is unpopular and therefore weak. The other is that some 37% of voters continue to support Trump notwithstanding Trump doing and saying things that are outrageous. A great many people agree with Senator Flake's characterization of Trump's behavior--the reckless tweets, the narcissism, the open and overt mis-statements--yet he is still supported by a significant majority of Republican voters--a significant enough majority that people like Corker and Flake saw the handwriting on the wall and dropped out.
This is not evidence of the Trump message weakness. It is evidence of the strength of the Trump message, since the messenger himself can be so flawed, yet still have a substantial majority of the majority party. Officeholders in the majority party are sitting tight, supporting the Trump message. A majority of the majority party is a governing majority. And Trump is consolidating it, not losing it.
Trump, notwithstanding. Democrats who ask themselves "how can evangelical Christians possibly support a person who brags about grabbing women?" are missing the point. The point is that evangelical Christians--and Republican voters generally--supported Trump notwithstanding hearing him with his own words brag about groping women, notwithstanding his open adulteries and three marriages, notwithstanding him telling outrageous stories about fellow Republicans, and notwithstanding generally demonstrating a temperament that sends up alarm signals. They support him anyway. He is saying things they like hearing. They like what he stands for.
That demonstrates strength, not weakness. He must be doing something right. Democrats don't see it, but apparently Republican voters do. That is what matters.
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| Trump is popular where it counts, in the GOP |
This is not evidence of the Trump message weakness. It is evidence of the strength of the Trump message, since the messenger himself can be so flawed, yet still have a substantial majority of the majority party. Officeholders in the majority party are sitting tight, supporting the Trump message. A majority of the majority party is a governing majority. And Trump is consolidating it, not losing it.
Trump, notwithstanding. Democrats who ask themselves "how can evangelical Christians possibly support a person who brags about grabbing women?" are missing the point. The point is that evangelical Christians--and Republican voters generally--supported Trump notwithstanding hearing him with his own words brag about groping women, notwithstanding his open adulteries and three marriages, notwithstanding him telling outrageous stories about fellow Republicans, and notwithstanding generally demonstrating a temperament that sends up alarm signals. They support him anyway. He is saying things they like hearing. They like what he stands for.
That demonstrates strength, not weakness. He must be doing something right. Democrats don't see it, but apparently Republican voters do. That is what matters.
2 comments:
In our reality TV national politics, one gets the impression that the kiddies are cowering in the corner because Big Daddy is angry and unpredictable. I have to admire Flake and Corker's courage to speak out, even while they withdraw from the field. I would vote for them. Ex-Senator can't be too bad of a job ...
He may be winning among republicans, but I predict the republicans are going to lose in 2018 as a repudiation of Donald Trump.
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