At least some Republicans realize their party is on the road to ruin
By Jennifer Rubin at the Washington Post
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2017/10/05/at-least-some-republicans-realize-their-party-is-on-the-road-to-ruin/?hpid=hp_no-name_opinion-card-d%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.ab3b93610907
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First, Trump’s crutches — yelling “Fake News!” or blaming others or self-praise or continually changing the topic to avoid any one scandal taking hold — have not worked to abate rising pessimism even if the vast majority of Republicans say they still support the president. Trump’s devices are aimed at defending himself, not his party or a larger ideological movement. As he struggles for his own political survival, he’s allowing (or intending) the party to atrophy and descend into chaos.
Second, the numbers don’t bode well for the GOP in midterms when Trump will not be on the ballot. Other polling shows a big lead for Democrats in generic congressional surveys and confirms that Republicans are less excited about the election, a sign many may sit out the 2018 races. They might still love Trump (or refuse to admit they were wrong about him), but Trump may have successfully demonized his own party within the GOP, thereby making it much harder for him to turn around next year to ask voters to return GOP majorities in the House and Senate.
Third, the growing gap between college (44 percent are optimistic) and non-college educated Republicans (65 are optimistic) may be much more significant than ideological divisions. (Among liberals/moderates 57 percent say they are optimistic, statistically no different than the 60 percent of conservatives who say they are optimistic about their party’s future.) This makes sense when one considers how unmoored Trump is to any ideology and how unaccomplished is his presidency. Trump is not about policy specifics or passing legislation; he is not an ideological leader or a problem solver. He’s an emotive figure who channels the anger and resentments of his followers. His administration is increasingly defined by Trump’s enemies not by his accomplishments; it reflects irrational anger, embraces a-factual politics and repudiates of democratic norms. That attitudinal style of politics may be enough to keep less-educated Trump fans in line but offers little if anything to professionals, main street business people and the suburban and urban Republicans (think of Mitt Romney voters) who wanted specific things from a Trump administration.
The unpleasant reality for Trump, of course, is that having neglected or attacked his own party he may find many of its members replaced by hostile Democrats who will seek to remove him. That is certainly reason for Republican pessimism.
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