http://www.politico.com/story/2015/12/donald-trump-republican-ticket-216377 GOP wrestles with prospect of Trump-led ticket
Democrats smell opportunity as Republicans in House and Senate races consider the once-unthinkable prospect of the billionaire businessman as party nominee.
By Ben Schreckinger and Kevin Robillard
12/03/15 12:13 AM EST
MANASSAS, Va. — Among signs waved by Latino, labor and Black Lives Matter protesters outside of Donald Trump’s rally here Wednesday night was one targeting a local congresswoman: “Trump & Comstock: Respect Women,” read a placard hoisted by an organizer for NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia.
The Trump phenomenon is increasingly spilling over from the Republican presidential primary it has already upended and into House and Senate races, where Democrats smell opportunity and Republicans are beginning to ponder the once-unthinkable prospect of a 2016 GOP ticket led by the billionaire businessman as nominee.
On Wednesday, a memo surfaced from the National Republican Senatorial Committee that envisioned Trump as the party nominee and advised its candidates to embrace some of Trump’s themes and traits while denouncing some of his “wacky” and politically radioactive comments. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, meanwhile, is stepping up its efforts to tie Republican House candidates to the current front-runner for their party’s nomination. That includes instructing the committee’s opposition researchers to look for comments made by Republican candidates about immigrants, women and other groups that say that Trump’s rhetoric and can be used to paint them with the same brush, according to a DCCC official.
“Even when House Republicans do not mimic his hateful rhetoric directly, the DCCC advises campaigns to draw comparisons to House Republican incumbents and Donald Trump because they are part of the same party, with shared principles,” the official said.
The move to Trumpify GOP candidates is already underway. In September, a state representative and prominent Democratic Latino surrogate in Colorado authored an op-ed about an incumbent Republican congressman titled, “Mike Coffman paved the way for anti-Immigrant Donald Trump.” In it, State Rep. Joe Salazar charges that “Coffman is alarmingly similar to Trump.”
Read more:
http://www.politico.com/story/2015/12/donald-trump-republican-ticket-216377#ixzz3tHz0Zdzp
