Republicans have to let Donald Trump lose if they want victory
By Michael Starr Hopkins, opinion contributor — 08/07/20 10:00 AM EDT
Watching Republicans walk themselves off a proverbial cliff is stunning and stupefying, all at the same time. It is stunning because of the inability of Republicans in Congress to appreciate the long-term ramifications of their short-term victories. It’s stupefying because of the demographic shifts that are transforming the Republican Party into a purely regional party that could go the way of the Whigs. There is clearly no long-term plan from Republicans in Congress, other than to distract away from the scandals and dismiss the barrage of criticisms coming from inside their political house.
The lore of Donald Trump may be that of a political survivor, one who broke every rule imaginable while managing to avoid removal. But to a majority of voters, he is also an uninformed, unprepared, and unsteady political actor in the midst of a historic crisis. Republicans in Congress are finally beginning to say publicly what many have said privately to me for years, “He’s a sinking ship that is going to take the whole crew down if we don’t do something about it.â€
Yet Republicans continue to do nothing about it. Symbolic gestures like putting on masks despite the President's erratic messaging or pushing back on his calls to delay an election few people think he can win sprout up periodically. But the political courage, or even self-serving outcry, that many expected in the wake of consistently bad polling has failed to surface in any substantial fashion.
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https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/511015-republicans-have-to-let-donald-trump-lose-if-they-want-victory