Trump’s Re-election Problem: Republicans

It goes without saying that an insignificant number of Democrats will vote for Trump.  The problem the president faces, however, is that his outrageous behavior is driving away many in the GOP.

The campaign slogan here puts it well. There are many subgroups of Republicans who can no longer abide this crude, ill-tempered, sociopath who lies on average 12 – 13 times per day in ways that often directly harm our country.  These include:

• Intellectuals like historian/columnist George Will, who are bright enough to see that Trump is a simple conman and sufficiently cultured to regard him as a loud-mouthed boor.

• Top active-duty and retired military officers, who value honor and integrity, and who understand the profound jeopardy represented by a mentally unstable president, especially since he’s obviously capable of anything that may be required to get re-elected.

• Top business people who look on in horror as Trump represents the U.S. in a huge stakes international poker game, not knowing if a flush beats a straight or a full house.

Sad to say, but “the base,” i.e., hateful, ignorant white people, seem to be hanging in there fairly well, though how well they will ride through all these concurrent tragedies is anybody’s guess.  A reader noted earlier today: “Ya gotta give the devil his due.  Who would have believed that a single person could be at the crux of a 1918 pandemic, a 1933 unemployment rate, and a 1968 insurrection–all in a two-month period?”  No one knows how much longer the common American will stand for this.