https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2016/05/04/the-gop-awakens-to-a-trump-nightmare-come-true/The GOP awakens to a Trump nightmare come trueBy Greg Sargent May 4 at 9:09 AM
Only 12 hours after Donald Trump effectively sealed the GOP nomination with his big Indiana win, the presumptive GOP nominee immediately reminded Republicans that the nightmare otherwise known as Trumpism — from which they had hoped to awaken — is now all too real.
On Morning Joe today, Trump doubled down on one of his most controversial positions: His call for a ban on non-citizen Muslims from entering the United States. Asked whether he will stand by his Muslim ban as the GOP nominee, Trump saiid.
“We have to be very vigilant. We have to find out what’s going on….We have a president that won’t mention the term ‘radical Islam’….We have to be vigilant. Yes. We have to find out what the hell is going on. There’s no doubt about it.”
So, yes, the Muslim ban stands. Meanwhile, on the Today Show, Trump vowed to unify the GOP, but in the next breath, basically told Republican critics who don’t like him to get lost:
In a shot at his critics, Trump added: “Those people can go away and maybe come back in eight years after we served two terms. Honestly, there are some people I really don’t want.”
And a new CNN poll out this morning underscores how deeply flawed a nominee he is likely to prove. The poll shows Hillary Clinton leading Trump nationally by 54-41.
But more important, the new CNN poll finds Trump is viewed unfavorably by 64 percent of women; 73 percent of nonwhites; 70 percent of voters under 35; 67 percent of college graduates; and 57 percent of moderates. Those are mostly constituencies the GOP had hoped to improve among. And while it’s often rightly pointed out that Clinton is disliked, she fares substantially better than he does among most of those particular groups, who will be pivotal to Clinton’s hopes of reconstituting the Obama coalition this fall.
And on top of all this, the CNN poll shows that Trump is also viewed unfavorably by 37 percent of conservatives, suggesting the possibility that some might potentially support a third party challenger, or if no such challenge materializes, at least stay home.
Obviously those numbers could change over time. But Trump — who is plainly susceptible to allowing the giddy highs of victory to cloud his capacity to reason — is not showing any awareness that the general election audience might see his antics differently than GOP primary voters do. And if Trump’s numbers among key voter groups, including conservatives, continue to tank — which could very well happen, once Democrats get serious about unleashing a sustained national attack on him — that could pose a stark choice for GOP officials and Republican lawmakers up for reelection amid a presidential year electorate, in states carried by Obama. As Jonathan Bernstein explains:
It’s hard to imagine a bigger disaster for the Republican Party. It is left with a likely nominee who appears to be an awful — historically awful — general-election candidate and who is also the least committed to the Republican agenda in decades.
This leaves a terrible choice for GOP politicians and other party actors. Support Trump, and they’ll always be associated with him and they’ll be tarred with whatever irresponsible things he says. Oppose him, and he’ll be an even weaker general-election candidate who could bring down the entire Republican ticket in November, costing them not only the closely contested Senate but perhaps even the House and several state legislative chambers.
One last point: If Republican lawmakers and officials do distance themselves from Trump in meaningful numbers, that could really end up mattering. As Democratic strategist Simon Rosenberg argues, Democrats are likely to be far more unified, creating a vivid contrast:
It will also be remarkable to see a very popular set of Democratic leaders – Biden, Bill Clinton, both Obamas, Sanders, the Vice President – standing alongside and campaigning with Secretary Clinton in the months ahead. That image of a powerful team lead by an experienced leader (and first woman!) will not be easily answered by an unpopular, isolated Trump and a deeply unpopular party….An unprecedented “Democratic Team” that includes two former Presidents could end up being an extraordinary advantage for her this fall.
Nice job, GOP voters.
