If Rs Were Smart, They Would Be Fleeing tRump, but they cant, because they are complicit

[stopbush]

Parallel to the Mueller investigation are the many stories emerging about just how deep and widespread was the Russian interference with the 2016 election. I believe we will eventually learn that votes WERE changed by voting machines etc that eked out a narrow win for tRump.

But I also believe that McConnell, Ryan and others in the top R leadership benefiited from Russian involvement in the election and that they knew in advance of the efforts to help down-ticket races. They made a deal with the devil, and they are now stuck with that deal, fated to ride it out until it destroys them along with tRump.

Which is why they will cover for tRump for as long as they can, because they are in fact covering for themselves.

[byronius]

1. It's a clear KGB operation -- they set out the honey through a Superpac, and half the GOP bit.

Even if they didn't know the source of the funds they don't want it known by anyone now.

[Eyeball_Kid]

4. Lots of recordings have been made

by intelligence services of GOP leadership accepting campaign (laundered) money from Russia. This will come out. The “conspiracy” is indeed deep and wide. Russia nearly got away with a bloodless coup. Yet the end of the story is still to be told.

[rainin]

2. I don't see a path

where there is justice without impeachment. At the end of the day, don't we need R's to impeach before any of these convictions stick? As long as he is President, convictions can just be pardened and he will be untouchable. I just don't see it.

[Generic Brad]

3. If they were smart, they wouldn't have been complicit in the first place

They cheated and bullied their way in. And now the truth is finally coming out.

[Garrett78]

5. They can't because the bulk of their electorate is solidly behind Trump.

Trump has a cult following, otherwise known as the Republican Party base. As Obama said sometime last year, "They've been feeding their base all kinds of crazy for years." And Trump is the result.

Trump's approval rating, as I recall, was in the 30s when he was campaigning. It's in the 30s now. For a while it was in the 40s, because a new POTUS experiences a honeymoon period. But, for the most part, he's always been in the mid-30s (when you average out the various polls, account for the margin of error and ignore the honeymoon phase). I'm not convinced his approval rating will drop into the 20s, but time will tell.

[stopbush]

6. Always remember that Rs

make up only 25% of the electorate. So when you hear that 80% of Rs support tRump, it means that they represent only 20% of the population.

Makes tRump’s support seem insignificant, does it not?

[Garrett78]

7. But they are solidly behind Trump and they vote.

The point being that Republicans in Congress must be careful about alienating Trump's following, as that following constitutes the bulk of their constituency. They can't win/get re-elected if most of Trump's base abandons them.

Also, there are many self-proclaimed "independents" who are solidly behind Trump. As we know from numerous studies, the vast majority of so-called "independents" are extremely partisan, but they like referring to themselves as "independent."