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Should Never Trump People Get Over It?
Washington State’s Republican Party just defied the stampede toward “unity.” Meeting over the weekend, they awarded 40 of the state’s 41 delegates to Ted Cruz. Washington’s Republicans have refused to be sheep.
The past few days have featured hectoring demands of Never Trump people to “get over it.” These have come not just from the more bullying precincts of Trump fandom, as in “Get on the Trump train or get run over,” but also from party regulars and office holders suggesting that failure to endorse Trump now is a kind of stubborn self-indulgence. “While you sit out, Hillary gets elected” huffed one of my critics, for example.
Yes, if there is a binary choice (not completely clear as of this writing) between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, it is possible that voters in swing states who decline to support Trump may be assisting Clinton. This is not a secret. Some Never Trump voters may have to live with that miserable outcome rather than violate their consciences by voting for an authoritarian ignoramus.
The genuflection to party loyalty that has spread like a rash in the past two weeks has more of the quality of a salute than a clear evaluation of the stakes. Some of Trump’s supporters are exulting at recent polls showing a slight Trump lead, while scorning those who advised as recently as a few weeks ago that a Trump nomination could lead the Republican Party to a Goldwater-type debacle. But one of the points the Never Trump people have stressed is that there were too equally painful possible outcomes of a Trump nomination: He loses or he wins.
The Democrats remain the majority party in presidential contests, having won five of the past six popular votes. They begin with an average 247 to 196 Electoral Collage advantage. That said, Hillary Clinton may well be the only major political figure in the country who could possibly lose a general election to Donald Trump. In fact, as two political scientists argue in the set ital New York Times end ital, Bernie Sanders’ support seems to come chiefly not from socialist young people but from “disaffected white men.” If white men turn out in droves for Trump in the general, it might affect the outcome. On the third hand, an analysis by Political Machination suggests that while Trump did bring out some new voters in the primaries, the newly-minted Trump Republicans were too few in the states examined to make up the 2012 Romney deficit.
The Never Trump commitment is not a matter of being excessively fastidious or too good for this world. Recognizing the imperfection of politics and of life is part of being a grown up.
Both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump would do damage to the nation. Both have demonstrated low character, an embrace of appalling policies (in some cases, the same policies!), and a capacity for dishonesty that rocks the Richter scale. But he is arguably even more dangerous than she. Both will abuse power and pursue execrable ends, but…
If Hillary Clinton is president, a united Republican Party will oppose her. Assuming Republican control of the House, she will not be able to pass a single piece of liberal legislation. She may attempt – as she has promised on the campaign trail – to rule by executive order in the manner of Obama. If she does, there will be pushback by Republicans. Just this month, a federal judge ruled in favor of the House of Representatives in its suit against Obama’s use of executive orders in the implementation of Obamacare. If she nominates terrible judges to the federal courts, a Republican Senate (assuming Republicans hold the Senate) could decline to confirm. If she attempts to reprise or even exceed the many arrogations of power Obama has attempted, Republicans will block her as best they can. It will be ugly, and Republicans will not always be successful.
If Donald Trump is president, by contrast, there will be no united opposition among Republicans. As we’ve seen in the past few weeks, the urge to bend the knee is very strong. How much more intense will it be if he sits in the Oval Office? Republicans will actively assist President Trump in undermining conservatism. From entitlements to trade to NATO to nuclear proliferation to universal health care to abortion, President Trump will get a free hand. He thus has it within his power to sabotage the whole conservative enterprise.
So remaining Never Trump is not disloyal — it’s the only way to safeguard conservative principles.
Published in General
You kind of, sort of, have a point. In my case, it’s the essentially worthless Richard Burr, however.
No, they should only get over it if they, like the candidate, directly oppose the provisions of the first amendment and want to roll back private property rights.
I voted against George W Bush, twice, for the same reasons you give for voting against Trump. (Though I did not vote for the Democrat.) I didn’t think that Republicans in Congress would oppose a man of their own party when he implemented dangerous and irresponsible leftwing policies, which is exactly what happened.
Mona, I won’t be voting for Trump either, but it has nothing to do with “safeguarding conservative principles.” It has everything to do with not wanting to pull the lever for someone with such low character. He is a vulgar, thrice married carnival barker who has spent much of the past decade having Twitter wars with Rosie O’Donnell. No way should he be President.
I, on the other hand, would be glad to vote for a vulgar, thrice married carnival barker who would cut corporate welfare.
Yep, full of the morally pure and ignored by everybody.
Even the Libertarians will pity them!
We have seen in the past 8 years that Republicans are weak sauce on Obama’s crap sandwiches. (Is that too vulgar Mona? Oh, I forgot, she doesn’t read comments). I see Republicans as eager to virtue-signal and defensive and have allowed Obama to systematically undermine conservatism. Actually, they let everyone undermine conservatism, so maybe she has a point….
But then what is the relationship between these Republicans and this conservatism of which
youMona speak(s)?Somehow Trumps random utterances and alliances for the sole purpose of his survival in business is cobbled together and lives in your brains as a some grand plan to destroy conservatism. It’s downright paranoid.
All the dissenters the NeverTrumpers are the ones who have gotten the political zeitgeist spectacularly wrong. Personally, I don’t care if you ‘get over it’, your faction has been repudiated as team leaders and isn’t much good even as followers.
Not only have Republicans been undermining conservatism in Congress, their Presidential candidates of late have been doing a bang-up job. They guy who never had a good thing to say about (other) conservatives, and said it every Sunday on some political show, was the 2008 nominee, remember? Then because he had such bad poll numbers with conservatives, he lurched right with his VP choice to someone who was easily lampooned and unable to fight back coherently.
Then they nominated everyone’s characature of the nice-guy Republican out-of-touch elite Romney, who wrote the model used for Obamacare. Newt Gingrich had an affair while he was married ohmygosh, so he’s out.
This shows very bad understanding of history and I see no reason they will change now.
What happened was Republicans have been giving this conservatism thing short shrift for decades. Conservative voters no longer see them as the vehicle to win. We see the denigration from your faction of Ted Cruz, the dismissal of Rand Paul and the promotion of Jeb Bush and status quo Republicans who are losers through and through.
Just because someone is enough of a dope to support Trump doesn’t mean the rest of us also have to be dopes, does it?
I am using Trump’s twitter style here, in case you are wondering. Of course, I don’t mean all his supporters are dopes. There are many fine people among them.
I don’t see a clear benefit to trump over Hillary. But I suspect I won’t decide what to do, vote trump or abstain, until the second Tuesday in November.
It makes sense. There is much that could happen to influence your decision. Of course, if you’re going to pay attention to the show, you have to make sure you’re not going to be too aggravated by the inevitably nasty surprises…
Ok so it is not completley clear that there will not be a third party option. This is a very optimistic statement about a 3rd party. Ben Sasse, Mit Romney and Bill Kristol are all begging for a third option. None of them are willing to run themselves. The election is in a little over 5 months and there is no candidate. Every conversation starts with the need to litigate in a couple states to get on the ballet.
Ross Perot received zero electoral college votes, but by this time in the campaign there had been polls showing him leading in Texas and California. The odds of a third party choice go down basically everyday that there is not an announced candidate. The odds of that third party winning or even pushing this to the House are even longer and getting worst by the day.
Be #neverTrump or #neverHilary or totally depressed, but this fantasy of a white knight coming to save the day (or even give you options) needs to end soon. We have deal with the world as it really is. Trump or Hillary will be President (Gary Johnson will get some votes) and they are very likely the only options.
This is a large part of why I’m voting for Trump. I don’t know for sure that he’ll do what he promises, but he at least might. Meanwhile, at this point, I have little reason to believe the Republicans will advance much of anything I care about or stop Democrats from the slow march to hell. They’ve rolled over too many times for too many years. They are not a conservative party.
I quit listening to “Need to Know” after Mona’s attacks on Ted Cruz during the government shutdown. I very surprised that she grudgingly supported Cruz at the end. It is finally nice to agree with Mona about something.
Does Ms. Charen ever read the comments here on Ricochet?
It is painful for the #NeverTrump people now. We should sincerely give them some time.
That’s true.
Do you really think it would help?
With friends like Mona it is no wonder Cruz lost. Her “endorsement” of him was basically that Cruz was a bad guy, whose views she could not support, who was partially responsible for Trump and basically the next to last person she would ever vote for, but he is not Trump so that is the sole reason she could vote for him.
I don’t think she does, or the wide-eyed and naive commentary she provides would be almost comical. Their egos are wounded, so yes they need time. Crikey, we have until November!
I’ve been out on vacation for a week, out of internet range, and nothing has changed.
Time for what?
#NeverRape
Just in case it hasn’t been shown, Spin is 100% correct and Mona is left to moan:
Washington primary
Last updated May 25, 2016 at 9:08 AM CT
REPUBLICAN
DEMOCRATIC
May 2444 delegates
76.2%
371,008
0
10.1%
49,256
0
9.9%
47,952
Trump ran on #NeverRepublicanParty.
Why does he need us now?
He made it through the primaries by bashing the party. I think he can also win the general without us.
I say let him.
I agree. Trump does not need the #NeverTrumpers. He will win anyway. It is not for Trump’s sake that I council gentleness to the #NeverTrumpers. It is for their benefit.
Time to heal.
I understood your intent.
But I’m amazed at all the Trump supporter (I used to be one) requests that Republicans fall in line and support him. The entire campaign was forged in the fires of party revolt. Why am I constantly being badgered now to support him for no other reason than “the party” or because he is “the Republican nominee?”
That makes no sense to me coming from Trump.
Why is it so unusual during a presidential campaign for supporters of a candidate to ask people to join with them? If you are being badgered, it must be somewhere else, because on this website it is only recently, it seems, that a few posts supporting Trump have even made it to the front page. But Mr. De Seno, I promise that I personally will never badger you to support Trump.
I am undecided rather than never trump, but I think our country has committed suicide. Obama followed by Trump or Hillary is painful for me. Shadenfreud is not going to make me feel better whether Hillary defeats Trump, or. president trump betrays his delusional supporters.
Heal what? I will not be a part of an evil coalition.