Trump calls out GOP apostasy. Circle the wagons. Shoot deserters.
Trump tweet:
"The Democrats are lucky they don't have any Mitt Romney types. They may be lousy politicians with really bad policies (Open Borders, Sanctuary Cities, etc.) but they stick together!"
Trump is making an example of Mitt Romney. Don't stray, or else.
Trump is not just a political actor. He is leading a big team, unified in large part by what they oppose: taxes, open borders, uncontrolled immigration, liberals, socialists, woke feminists, media elites, political correctness, and people who call them "racist." He is sending out an unmistakable message to Republicans troubled by the recent news: stay on the team.
Any GOP officeholder who hopes to have a continuing career in office--or lobbying career after office--can see what happens to deserters. Senators Bob Corker and Jeff Flake spoke out. Trump attacked. They slunk out of the Senate, knowing they could not win a Republican primary.
Congressman Mark Sanford spoke out. Trump endorsed his opponent, Sanford lost, and Trump gloated. Now Sanford is running for president, Trump brings up Sanford's 2009 affair, and mocks him as one of the Three Stooges.
Lindsay Graham got the message. He faced a dangerous primary. GOP activists in South Carolina whispered to me that Graham was a secret homosexual, my heaven's sake! Graham switched. He is all-Trump all the time.
 |
| Trump tweet |
Now Mitt Romney. Romney is a particularly dangerous one for Trump. Romney represents the straight-arrow version of GOP, someone in the Mike Pence, John Kasich mold. Pious. Protestant. A presumed alternative to libertine Democrats with their modern secularism.
As a Senator from Utah, not up for election for four years he is electorally safe. Utah Republicans are uncomfortable with Trump. Romney fits Utah.
As a Senator from Utah, not up for election for four years he is electorally safe. Utah Republicans are uncomfortable with Trump. Romney fits Utah.
Trump understands the threat. He doesn't just disagree with Romney, he mocks mocks him. He came hat in hand begging me to be Secretary of State, Trump says. I rejected him, the so now he's bitter, the phony! Romney choked! Romney is a loser!
Romney is unusually dangerous for Trump, and would be the single most dangerous Republican to the Trump fortress. Nearly all Republican officeholders voted for Romney and publicly supported him. Romney represents the pre-Trump version of the GOP, a version of GOP that brought most officeholders to power. The Tea Party Freedom Caucus populist newcomers are associated with Trump disruption. The conservative disposition is usually against disruption.
Romney represents a return to "normalcy." He is a known, formerly respectable, alternative brand.
Romney represents a return to "normalcy." He is a known, formerly respectable, alternative brand.
Romney alone will not topple Trump, but he could start a cascade. If a second and third person speaks up--Republican Senators Susan Collins and Cory Gardner, perhaps, combined with one visible opinion host on Fox--the dam could break.
Trump may well have described him correctly, as someone who doesn't work quite hard enough, and as someone who chokes. In that case, he will mumble about being "troubled" but do nothing more.
But he might speak out and be the pebble that starts the landslide.
[Note: About 1,500 readers get this post by email. If you are one of them, you would see the post in better format if you go directly to the post at www.peterwsage.blogspot.com. If you wish to comment, you do not do it by hitting "reply" to this email. You do it by going to the website and clicking on the "Comments" button at the end of the post. Thanks!]
But he might speak out and be the pebble that starts the landslide.
[Note: About 1,500 readers get this post by email. If you are one of them, you would see the post in better format if you go directly to the post at www.peterwsage.blogspot.com. If you wish to comment, you do not do it by hitting "reply" to this email. You do it by going to the website and clicking on the "Comments" button at the end of the post. Thanks!]
3 comments:
Mitt is doing the right thing, weakly, but unfortunately he represents a Republican party that no longer exists, and your speculation about "dam breaking" is likely wishful thinking, though I share your hopes and dreams. Moderate Democrats will not be rescued by the likes of Mitt Romney. No, the Republicans have passed the point of no return, and it now falls on Democrats, and the voters, to do what the GOP should have done back when the birther nonsense started: unanimously discredit and disqualify Trump.
Sen. Sanders unfortunate health issue, and VP Biden's declining fortunes make it ever more clear that Sen. Warren will be the Democrats' best hope moving forward, and it's my hope support for her candidacy will coalesce soon. What is less clear is who will be the best choice for VP. None of the second tier seem plausible at present.
I am not so sure about what Rick Milward said about Romnney and the Republicans. Not that, as one of the 47%, I admire a man who got rich off of company layoffs, and basically called us deplorables. I think that he could indeed start a movement in republicans.
Also I don't like lumping Pence in with moderate repubs, as this man believes in the apocalypse, and in the merger of church and state. I think he is dangerous in a different way than is trump.
So, if trump is to be taken out, I really want Pence to be there with him! A sad scenario would be for trump to resign. Then we have Pence, who would be electable in 2020.
There is a tradition of choosing VP running mates off of the list of currently running people. If Warren is the nominee, I would like to see Buttigieg, Yang, or Castro, but she could choose someone like, say Sherrod Brown, who is from a mid-west state, and has the older white liberal dude credentials.
PS- Peter as I get emails of updated comments from people, wish you would block Mr anal whatever, who says nothing serious, and a link to him just has a long German webpage.
To the readers who support Trump, are you really OK with what he is doing to our country?
Post a Comment