Mitch McConnell tells Republican Senators run against Trump

[frigidmagi]

rawstory

In private meetings in Washington, Republicans are preparing for their latest worst case 2016 election scenario: Donald Trump might be their presidential nominee.

Normally at this point in the election cycle the GOP would be gearing up for attacks on their anticipated Democratic rival for the White House. But party leaders are so distraught at the idea of the blustery businessman heading the ticket, that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has taken to advising candidates to keep their distance from Trump.

According to the New York Times, McConnell is assuring Senate candidates running for reelection that they should feel free to run ads against Trump if they feel he is hurting their own campaigns. According to senators attending private lunches with the Majority Leader, McConnell is taking the approach that Trump will lose badly in the general election and that senators should sell themselves as a bulwark against a Hillary Clinton presidency.

Pointing out that he still won easily when President Bill Clinton was reelected, McConnell reportedly told colleagues that the party will drop Trump “like a hot rock” if he is the nominee.

News of the party’s preemptive rejection of the potential nominee comes after a luncheon meeting attended by Republican governors and donors in Washington on Feb. 19 where political guru Karl Rove warned that Trump may be unstoppable for the GOP — and that his nomination could destroy other Republican candidate’s chances in November.

According to people who attended a private presentation hosted by the conservative billionaires Charles G. and David H. Koch, Trump’s record was deemed utterly unacceptable, causing high profile donors to hold back on donations out of fear it will be money that will be wasted.

As for stopping Trump from becoming the face of the party come November, Republicans are flummoxed.

“There is no mechanism,” said Former Gov. Michael O. Leavitt of Utah. “There is no smoke-filled room. If there is, I’ve never seen it, nor do I know anyone who has. This is going to play out in the way that it will.”

[Josh]

Reaping the whirlwind and so on. They cultivated the pitchfork mob for years, now it turns on them. If only it wasn't the other head of the Clinton beast that stood to profit by this.

[LadyTevar]

I'd be laughing at their woes, if it wasn't for the real fear that Trump has a backing that could overturn the GOP's best attempts at stopping him.

[Norseman]

Have I completely misunderstood or is both Trump and Sanders an expression of, "No more mainstream, humdrum same as old! Break the system and give us something actually new!" sentiments? Because there seems to be a lot of that going around.

[frigidmagi]

Have I completely misunderstood or is both Trump and Sanders an expression of, "No more mainstream, humdrum same as old! Break the system and give us something actually new!" sentiments? Because there seems to be a lot of that going around.

Yes and No. Their support come from polar opposite ends. Trump's supporters tend to be older and poorly educated (he has a lock on highschool drop outs). They're angry at a world that is increasingly leaving them behind and not giving a fuck what they think. They feel they've lost their country (despite never actually done anything to earn it) and want it back. They also feel the establishment has taken them for granted, using their votes but never giving anything back (they ain't wrong).

Sander's supporters are mostly young and in college or recent graduates. They are frustrated with a game they feel is rigged and believe that no one is interested in helping them. They lock into Sander's promises and his statements of wanting to be like Denmark without realizing that alot of his policies are more like Venezuela.

There's another key different. Unlike Sander's base, Trump's tends to vote.

[Lys]

Another difference is that people who are for Trump tend to be very locked into him, with little chance of their switching to second choices. The same is not true for Sanders, as i have personally witnessed a number of people who were in the Sanders camp switch to Clinton after taking a closer look at his proposed policies. So Trump's support is much less porous with respect to the rest of his party than Sander's is.

[Rogue 9]

And the anti-establishment vote is driving both of them; I have witnessed several people whose first and second choices are, in some order, Trump and Sanders.

[Lys]

Yeah i've seen that too, while the majority of Sanders and Trump's support comes from polar opposites, there are a number of people who like them both. Not sure what demographic they comprise, however.

[frigidmagi]

Blithering idiots.