Koch network tells donors it plans to stay out of 2020 race, once again declining to back Trump

[Eugene]

Source: Washington Post

Koch network tells donors it plans to stay out of 2020 race, once again declining to back Trump

By Josh Dawsey and Michelle Ye Hee Lee January 24 at 6:08 PM

The conservative Koch political network has told donors that it plans to once again stay out of the presidential race and will not work to help reelect President Trump in 2020, a move that sidelines a major player that has been pivotal in mobilizing voters on the right for more than a decade.

The decision reflects a narrow path that the influential network led by billionaire industrialist Charles Koch has sought to walk in the Trump era: aligning with the president on some policy issues while withholding its electoral firepower on his behalf.

The network’s plan to stay out of the 2020 race was quietly relayed to major donors in recent months, according to people familiar with the conversations. It comes as the network has sought to shift attention from its political activities to its investments in education and philanthropy. Donors say they expect to discuss the issue at a retreat for top network contributors this weekend.

The network’s stance — a confluence of frustration with Trump’s rhetoric and trade policies and a desire to shed its partisan image — is not a total surprise. But it will deprive the president of the assistance of one of the most sophisticated grass-roots operations on the right in what is expected to be a hard-fought reelection battle.

The Koch operation is still expected to be a player in 2020: Koch-backed groups such as Americans for Prosperity plan to support candidates for U.S. Senate and governor, as they did in 2016, when the network pointedly declined to endorse Trump.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/koch-network-tells-donors-it-plans-to-stay-out-of-2020-race-once-again-declining-to-back-trump/2019/01/24/47d84eae-1e7a-11e9-bda9-d6efefc397e8_story.html

[diva77]

1. They'll still be wreaking havoc all over the place - tainting university research, think tanks,

state, local gov't, justice system, elections officials, etc etc etc.

Is there anything they don't have their dirty paws on???

[sharedvalues]

2. They'll just pour money into House and Senate and state apparatchiks

[elleng]

5. Right

[dalton99a]

8. They want their tax scam to stay in place.

[sharedvalues]

9. That's what it is all about: destroy the govt to cut taxes on the rich.

[Blue Owl]

3. yeah sure, nothing in it for them

[EarthFirst]

4. Pure optics.

Sure; Trump is toxic; however to claim that it’s effort is to “shed it’s partisan image” -is horseshit.

Every legislative effort they are skillfully crafting is complete unadulterated hardline ultra-conservative agenda.

...and to that effort; the legislative efforts they are successful with; will be gleefully represented in their year-end Christmas card to the donors in the network.

An effort to remain non-partisan my ass!

[Beartracks]

6. We'll still need to fight them. 2020 is about way more than just President. n/t

[DFW]

7. Like at the end of Godfather I

"It's just business."

Supporting Trump and his shrinking-but-still-there base for the next two years is probably bad for wealth preservation, and the Kochs have quite a bit of wealth to preserve, if I recall correctly.