For Who? For What?May 23, 2016 | By Jonathan V. Last
http://www.weeklystandard.com/for-who-for-what/article/2002381/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=t.co&utm_campaign=20160515_TWS-mag-for-who-what-trump-7_twitter&utm_content=TWSSo as a matter of principle, Republicans owe Trump nothing. Of course, politics is sometimes inhospitable to principle. But even as a crass, electoral concern, it may be foolish for Republicans to support Trump. Understand that the term "Trump supporters" now includes not just the alt-right and the KKK, but every Republican officeholder who has endorsed Trump. If Trump loses in November, he will harrumph back to Mar-a-Lago unbowed. The fact that he will have no future in the party is likely to disturb him very little, since he had no past in it, either. But other Republicans—Bobby Jindal, Rick Perry, Chris Christie, Mitch McConnell—will not have the same luxury.
To endorse Donald Trump is to make your political career hostage to a man who may, at any random moment, accuse a former president of treason. Or encourage his supporters to physically assault their opponents. Or spin wild conspiracy theories, or tell obvious lies, or praise murderous dictators.
One of the oddities of politics is that its practitioners can be destroyed by a single moment. Think of Marco Rubio's New Hampshire debate flub. Or Rick Perry's 2012 mishap. Or Mitt Romney's "47 percent" comment. Or Howard Dean's scream. Or Al Gore's sighing. Yet some politicians can survive anything short of a full-scale nuclear first strike.
Both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have survived facts and statements that would have destroyed most politicians. It isn't fair, but fair's got nothing to do with it. Most people running for office do not have electorally the resilience of a cockroach.
Republicans considering whether to endorse Trump should ask themselves, honestly, whether they possess the same imperviousness as Trump. Because they're going to need it. Over the next six months, any Republican running for election who is supporting Trump is going to be importuned to defend every insane utterance, every lie, every dangerous idea that emanates from the man. They're going to be pestered, every day, at every campaign stop, to either endorse or disavow everything noteworthy Trump says.
That's the flip side to the "unity" arguments Trumpkins such as Mike Huckabee are mounting. It's easy for Huckabee to be pro-Trump—he'll never stand before voters again. But people with careers need to understand that there are no good alternatives in a Trumpist GOP, only less-bad ones. The choice isn't whether Republicans unite behind a guy who became a Republican five minutes ago and holds almost no views in common with theirs. It's whether Republican office-seekers should preserve some independence or yoke themselves to a perpetual scandal machine.
