Democrats maybe fighting….
But Republicans ARE getting in line behind Donald Trump, warts and all…
When Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) hit the airwaves with his first television advertisement asking voters to give him another six years in office, he let President Trump speak for him.
Tillis “has been a warrior … really a warrior, when we needed him most,” Trump said in footage from a rally in July. “Make sure he gets reelected.”
In Georgia, Rep. Doug Collins (R) castigated his Senate primary opponent, appointed Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R), for sitting on the sidelines in 2016 after contributing almost $1 million to outside groups working on behalf of 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney. Loeffler’s allies shot back, accusing Collins of putting Georgia’s electoral votes — and Trump’s presidency — on the line by jumping into the 2020 Senate race.
And in Alabama, former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the first major congressional Republican to back Trump in 2016, is facing off against a prominent primary rival who invoked God when speaking of the president.
“I say it with all of my heart, God sent us Donald Trump, because God knew we were in trouble,” former Auburn University football coach Tommy Tuberville said in a radio spot that hit stations last month.
Across the country, GOP Senate candidates are almost obsessively focused on Trump, a sign of his sky-high popularity among Republican voters. Their absolute devotion to Trump is a calculated risk: balancing the need to win over voters who will turn out to support the president, but who are not enamored of more traditional Republicans on the ballot, against the potential that Trump could become an unpopular albatross with centrists and independents.
“It’s Republican identity politics. For Republicans, Trump is ‘our guy’ — the one who gives voice to their anger and resentment,”….
image…Greg Nash/Getty