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https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/poli...just-keeps-winning/ar-BBLFBcr?ocid=spartanntp
The midterms will be very interesting. Republicans are in a tight mess, all due to Trump. I'm sure many dislike him, but are powerless to do anything about it.
The midterms will be very interesting. Republicans are in a tight mess, all due to Trump. I'm sure many dislike him, but are powerless to do anything about it.
Trump's takeover of the party is total. The Republican base is almost entirely aligned with him; those who cross Trump -- especially people in the GOP -- are made to feel the pain. (See: John McCain, Jeff Flake, Bob Corker.)
The problem that takeover creates for Republicans less interested in adherence to Trump than in making Republican majorities as large as possible is that the candidates the President favors are not always the candidates best positioned to win in the fall.
Take Kobach. He's a deeply controversial figure in Kansas and someone who lots and lots of dyed-in-the-wool Kansas Republicans just plain don't trust or like. If he unseats Colyer for the Republican nomination, the Sunflower State governor's race has at least the potential of becoming a Democratic pickup, due to unrest within the GOP directed toward Kobach. (Worth noting: Kansans elected and re-elected a Democratic governor in 2002 and 2006 in the form of Kathleen Sebelius.)
This is the Trump paradox for Republicans. Break with him and risk being on the wrong side of a primary loss. Stick with him and run the risk of being dragged down by his unpopularity with everyone outside of the Republican base.
Tuesday night affirmed that new reality for Republicans, and the near-impossibility of successfully navigating it.