The consensus here at the PDog is that Donald Trump OWNS the Grand Ole’ party….
I’m the only one that points out that there ARE those who aren’t so happy and supportive of the NYC Realm Estate guy turned President….
The Wall Street Journal/NBC is out with-a piece that goes further is showing the divisions that have developed with the Republicans….
President Trump wins high approval ratings from Republicans and has unified Democrats in opposition. But the reactions to Mr. Trump are masking important divisions within each party. Wall Street Journal/NBC News polling reveals the voters and policies that have divided the Republican Party into two wings, and the debates that will shape the party’s future….
…
…There are deep divisions within the Republican Party, a new analysis of Wall Street Journal/NBC News polls shows. One set of voters fully backs the president while another opposes many of Mr. Trump’s actions or supports them only weakly. These voters also criticize many aspects of Mr. Trump’s character and leadership….
…
In one wing, Republicans say they support Mr. Trump more than the party itself, while those in the other wing back the party more than they do Mr. Trump. Call them Trump Republicans and Party Republicans….
…
Trump Republicans support the president with intensity, Party Republicans less so. That difference appears in how many from each group say they “strongly approve” of Mr. Trump….
…
A divided party has a harder time winning elections. Party Republicans say they are less interested in the elections than are Trump Republicans. If they stay home, the party’s hold on Congress could slip….
image…commonswikimedia
You aren’t the only one
Ah, Ok…..
This is from Political Wire and one clear takeaway is that the Republicans created Trump. You can say he is adopted all you like, but they created this monster and his spawn has infected the entire party. Actually, they are now a threat to democracy —-
It’s somewhat amusing to watch Republicans panic as Don Blankenship (R) threatens to win their party’s U.S. Senate nomination in West Virginia.
As President Trump attacks Blankenship as being “not viable” in the general election, the coal mining executive hits back saying he’s the victim of an establishment conspiracy led by “Swamp Captain” Mitch McConnell, the “China people” and the dishonest “fake news.”
If that sounds like something Trump himself would say, you’re not mistaken.
For years, Republicans have told the base not to believe the news media. That’s why reports of Blankenship’s criminal record, conspiracy theories and racism fall on deaf ears. A generation of Republican voters has been conditioned to not believe facts anymore.
First Read explains:
It’s not hard to draw a line between those who have created this dystopian, distrusting view of the press and the rise of Blankenship, Roy Moore and (likely) Joe Arpaio. What’s more, it wouldn’t be hard for Trump to bolster his anti-Blankenship argument with news articles about the former coal baron’s ethics problems, but he hasn’t done that — he’s only asserted that Blankenship can’t win. Why not? Perhaps Trump doesn’t want to risk legitimizing a press that he’s long called “fake” to protect his own interests? Undermining the press works well if you’re under scrutiny, but for Trump, it may be backfiring now that Blankenship is beating him at his own game.
It will be interesting to see if Blankenship wins the primary tonight. If he does, Republicans should blame their cynical strategy towards the truth. If he doesn’t, don’t worry — there will be another Don Blankenship in a Republican primary soon enough.
“criminal record, conspiracy theories and racism fall on deaf ears”
Hmm, what does that remind me of?
Netanyahu checks all three boxes
I’ve heard no conspiracy theory here to top the one that Donald Trump is a
“Secret Democrat.”
The numbers are there in the piece Jack…
“I’m the only one that points out that there ARE those who aren’t so happy and supportive of the NYC Realm Estate guy turned President….”
This is an offensive comment on multiple levels.
1) EVERYONE knows that there are Republicans who don’t like Trump for a variety of reasons.
2) Saying “I’m the only one who points out…” suggests you are the only person who knows something. Are you trying to tell us that despite being unable to write competently or logically or understand what others are saying, you are actually rather brilliant relative to the rest of us?
No….
While I agree my writing sometimes sucks….
The major feeling here is that Trump owns the Grand Ole Party lock stock and barrel…..
I take poetic license in say ‘I’m’ the only one….
It sure feels like that , though….
How do you explain that almost all of the Republican legislators who are highly critical of Trump are not running for re-election?
I’m sure that all Republicans are worried at least somewhat that Trump will negatively impact their re-election chances. But what are they doing about it? And if they are not doing anything, then that means Trump is totally in control,
Please re-read the piece….
As Jack points out?
Trump’s approval remains very amoung the faithful….
But he is NOT in total control …..
The lawmakers of his party have gone their own way on many things and we see in social media a nd on the Cable TV channel’s more and more people who voted for Trump having doubts….
Okay James – you win on this one!
“Total Control” implies dictatorial powers which Trump does not have. But the party is becoming more like Trump every day – which would have been a better way to express my thoughts
A ridiculous distinction without a difference.
What I , and others, have said is that Donald Trump dominates the Republican Party,that most Republicans support him, that most Republican Congress members vote with him on most issues.
As he does with everything James wants to find an occasional exception and make a big deal about it…
So let me make my position clear..
Donald Trump is the Leader of the Republican Party.He dominates it.Most Republicans support him .Most Republican Congress members support him.The NeverTrumpers are a small and powerless group within the party.If Trump runs again, he will be the Republican nominee and,in the general election,he will enjoy overwhelming support from those who call themselves Republican.The opposition to him within the Republican Party is not of any real significance.There are some Republicans who don’t “like” him ,but even most of them support him.
Now are there “some” Republicans who don’t care for him?Sure, rare is there unanimity in anything.Are they significant enough to adversely affect Trump in any real way within the party?No.
Once again, this site is consumed with minutiae as I mention often.All this,on and on and on and on , to make the insignificant point that there are “some” Republicans who don’t support him,an obvious reality of course.
I repeat Donald Trump is the Leader of and by far the dominant force in the Republican Party.
In other words, what is so blatantly obvious that it is totally laughable that we have to even go through this exercise.
Unfortunately though, due to the moderator here and his obsession with insignificant, off the wall “stuff” we do…
So yes, James, there exist some Republicans who don’t support Donald Trump…
Good God!
and you are all lucky enough to “know” one!
CG (not GG)
Here are the important corollaries to today’s posts:
1. Trump has no core principles, despite perhaps a decades long belief that the U.S. gets screwed in free trade deals, which would put him more in line with Democrats.
Nonetheless, he is all about himself and all about what makes him and his “brand” look good, be it in politics or outside. He has in years past called himself a Democrat and expressed positions on issues that seem completely in line with Democrats. Now, he calls himself a Republican, and takes positions on many (but far from all) positions that put him in line with Republicans. Sometimes, there is no rhyme or reason to the stances he takes, such as how he vigorously opposed Obama and then after that, stated that Hillary Clinton was terrific and the best person to be President of the United States, despite the fact that Clinton and Obama were allied and so close on issues.
So, it is completely conceivable that Trump could reinvent himself into anything he wants, if he thinks it benefits him politically. Right now, there’s no doubt that being a Republican is what has him best positioned. If Republicans get pounded in the midterms though, he could decide to go a different route… to benefit himself. This all makes him very different than a Reagan, who switched parties, almost two decades before becoming President, and having backed Republican candidates prominently as a Democrat before that,, based on principle and never wavering in his core beliefs.
2. Right now, present company excluded, yes, most Republicans support Trump and bend themselves in pretzels to try to find the good aspects of his Administration. I have stated though it’s more about being anti-liberal than pro-Trump as anytime I would express any sort of dissatisfaction with Trump to them, all they say is , “well, do you want Hillary to..”
Trump took over the Republican Party and became it’s dominating force in a way that nobody expected. He was very unpopular in the party when he started the attempt to do so, but managed to come out on top in what felt like a flash. Conversely, things can change one day, maybe soon, maybe further down the road, and in spite of his high standing in the party now, it could all fall away from him in a flash as well.
Goldwaterism was far from being the universal Republican philosophy in 1965, but (as interpreted by Nixon, Reagan and Newt Gingrich) it has become the basic consensus among almost all the GOP and the implicit rationale for almost all their party platforms.
Almost no Republican candidate today claims to be a Dewey or Warren Republican, a Progressive Republican (like Ike), or a Rockefeller or Lindsay Republican. [John Lindsay, Leon Panetta, Arlen Specter, Jim Jeffords and Lincoln Chafee eventually became Democrats, since there was no room for them in their own party.]
It’s not inconceivable (though hardly to be welcomed) that the same might become true of Trumpism.
If the Democrats win the House and win or come out the same in the Senate?
I CAN certainly see Donald Trump’s Democratic leanings resurface DSD….
I just don’t see it, James. He has an enormous base of supporters who, like Goldwater’s after 1964, are not just going to go away or change their philosophy.
Why would Trump give up that for some vague, uncertain prospect?
Ronald Reagan, another former Democrat, never went back. Nor did Charlton Heston, a former member of the Young People’s Socialist League and participant in the 1963 March on Washington.
Like Zell Miller, Trump can always claim that he never left the Democratic Party; it left him.
And in Donald Trump, there might be complete intellectual muddle, but there’s not a scintilla of the ambiguity that might attach to someone like Joe Lieberman or the late Al Smith (reforming Democratic governor of New York, 1928 Democratic candidate for President, and later passionate leader of the vehemently anti-New-Deal Liberty League).
My feeling is in order to get ANYTHING if he’s still
In office after the midterms ?
He’s gotta dance WITH