"Only Bad Choices" Left For GOP: Trump, Supreme Court Put Party In Turmoil
By Tyler Durden
“Man, you guys cannot stop talking about him. He is a dangerous presence and, you know, it’s just like candy by the bushel.”
That’s what Hillary Clinton – who possibly didn’t know her mic was live – told MSNBC last Monday night. The former First Lady was of course talking about Donald Trump, and the media’s interest is a byproduct of the public’s fascination.
But if the media and voters “can’t stop talking about him,” America’s entrenched political aristocracy (on both sides of the aisle) wishes everyone would just shut up. While Democrats fear Trump as a kind of threat to the ideals and values that supposedly underpin American democracy, for the GOP this is an existential threat. Trump’s success has sent the establishment back to the drawing board and if he wins the nomination outright, the party will die.
That’s not to say it won’t be resurrected, but it would be an enormous blow in the short-term.
This is complicated by the fact that Republicans are facing a tough choice with Obama’s Supreme Court nomination. Here’s NBC outlining the GOP’s set of “Sophie’s Choices”:
On Trump:
- Acquiesce/surrender to Donald Trump, who is on track (though it’s not a slam dunk) to obtain a majority of Republican delegates. The problem here? Almost every poll we’ve seen shows Trump to be the weakest GOP candidate to face Hillary Clinton.
- Fight Trump to stop him from getting the 1237 delegates he needs. The problem? Trump has talked about “riots” if he’s leading in delegates but is denied the nomination, and we don’t think he’s kidding.
On SCOTUS:
- Oppose the older and more moderate Garland (even hearings and consideration of his nomination), and hope that Republicans don’t lose the 2016 election, which would result in, say, a President Hillary Clinton nominating younger and more liberal replacement.
- Relent on Garland, knowing the opposition hurts your vulnerable Senate incumbents up for re-election (Kelly Ayotte, Mark Kirk, Ron Johnson, Rob Portman, Pat Toomey), but welcome the wrath of the GOP base.
Bear in mind, this isn’t a criticism of the GOP. Those are the choices they actually face in the months ahead, and there are no right answers.
Not mentioned are other concerns. For instance, if the Republicans “surrender” to Trump, they risk reputational damage. That’s not a comment on Trump – clearly he’s struck a (loud) chord with large swaths of the electorate – but the simple fact is that most establishment Republicans do not want to be associated with him and it’s not out of some petty jealousy. Well maybe it partly is, but part of it is that the GOP doesn’t believe that in the long-run, what Trump says should represent the party line. Perhaps the party should look at Trump’s spectacular numbers and consider where they went wrong in terms of connecting with voters because as the soon to be “private citizen” …read more
Source: "Only Bad Choices" Left For GOP: Trump, Supreme Court Put Party In Turmoil
