Oh they say they like the guy….
It’s Trump’s party, Right?
They do NOT say bad things about him in general out loud….
But quietly?
GOPer’s in Congress have gone their own way on some things…
Item: Trump is taking credit for endorsing the winner in the Alabama Senate primary run-off. This is actually more about reporters than it is about the Republican Party. Trump had originally endorsed one candidate, then pulled his support and switched to the polling leader. He did a similar thing in the Pennsylvania governor’s primary, with a very late endorsement to a big polling leader. Hey, there’s nothing wrong with endorsing sure winners. It’s part of politics. But any pundit or journalist who buys the idea that the subsequent results say anything at all about Trump’s strength within the party or among Republican voters is failing a very easy test. The truth is that Trump’s endorsements haven’t been very effective in moving voters during this election cycle (or, for that matter, previous ones). That doesn’t mean Republican voters don’t like him. They do. But voters usually like all of their party’s politicians.
Item: Senate Republicans continue to be more open to compromise and, basically, acting like normal politicians during this Congress than many people expected. They’ve reached a deal on gun safety. There’s a bipartisan bill rolling out on insulin pricing. And there are small things, too. HuffPost’s Jennifer Bendery reports that Montana Senator Steve Daines “heaped praises” on Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland and her team for their response to flooding at Yellowstone National Park. It’s good to see a Republican senator acknowledge such help, because it indicates that the positive, healthy incentives built into the system are working. Too often, Republicans have acted as if any cooperation with Democratic administrations was a mistake because it would tend to make the president more popular and, therefore, cost Republicans in the next election. Such effects in truth are pretty marginal. But it’s good for their constituents if Democratic administrations have incentives to govern well even in states they won’t carry in the next election….