Republicans Must Break From the Shithole President

The GOP is heading off the cliff with Trump.

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EDUARADO MUNOZ ALVAREZ/GETTY

Election Day 2018 is less than 10 months away.  On a national level, midterms are usually perilous for the party in power as voters have little other choice but to vent their frustration against those holding offices. This cycle is shaping up to be a doozey against the GOP fueled by the revulsion towards President Donald Trump who remains the most unpopular president in modern times.

Voter surveys have shown a marked preference for a generic Democratic candidate over a Republican in Congress.  GOP representatives are retiring at a record pace that now give hope to Democratic candidates to seize the opportunities presented and re-take the House.  While it is true Democrats need a strong message during this cycle to win over voters and as importantly, stoke the needed enthusiasm to get out the vote, disdain for Trump will be the party’s guiding star.

Trump has demonstrated an inordinate capacity for getting himself in trouble with his tweets and his verbal comments—the latter exemplified by his reported racially charged characterization of African nations and Haiti as “shithole countries” in reference to immigrants.  He needs this controversy like a hole in the head following the publication of mega-seller Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House by Michael Wolff where his fitness for office, his mental capacity and stability are allegedly questioned by those who are around him. #hocopolitics

From Charlottesville to Ghana, Trump has displayed his inner bigoted self, substantiated by a history of racism from his real estate development beginnings and birtherism to his anti-Muslim, anti-Mexican rhetoric.  Now the “shithole” mess that validates the charges of racism.

Throughout these episodes, Republican lawmakers have been tepid concerning Trump’s actions and overt racist words, the hovering Russia investigation, and the cavalier saber-rattling handling of the stalemate with North Korea.  While privately they raise their eyebrows and shake their heads with respect to Trump (even calling him a moron or worse), publicly they are latching on to him without any fissures of this alliance to this point.

Trump with his pardoned pal Sheriff Joe Arpaio

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) who was once a strong critic of the president and gave hope to Americans that the preservation of democracy is far more important than party loyalty has exercised a rather suspicious whiplash reversal since a golf outing with Trump and now seems to be an ally. Even retiring Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) who had criticized Trump and questioned his stability appears happy now that the new tax law has been signed, which will benefit Corker (and Trump) mightily.

For GOP electeds who will be facing a likely prodigious blue wave, it’s not enough to “distance” themselves from Trump; they need to strongly condemn him when appropriate.  This applies to moderate Republican officials—local and national—who don’t agree with Trump on many if not most instances but somehow feel obliged to keep silent about him lest they lose Trump’s shrinking but noisy base.  This is a false calculation because those Trump supporters have nowhere to go but to back a Republican.  Voters in Alabama who supported Roy Moore preferred a sexual predator of underage girls to a Democrat.

Picture GOP elected officials in a line, locked in arms with Trump in the center, heading for a cliff.  If they don’t break from that linkage with Trump, Democrats will remind the voters that Republicans are the party of Trump, Moore and Sheriff Arpaio, and the Republicans could plunge into the abyss with him. 

Republican strategist Steve Schmidt has been hammering Trump for his debasement of the office of the presidency.  His tweet below sums up accurately the challenge facing Republicans.

The corrupted, rotten and complicit Republican majority that is abetting this Presidents damage to our institutions, national security and domestic tranquility must face electoral anhialation.  A massive coalition of Democrats, independent and appalled Republicans must come .

— Steve Schmidt (@SteveSchmidtSES) January 12, 2018

Sweet Home Alabama: The Jones-Moore Election

Sweet home Alabama
Where the skies are so blue
Sweet home Alabama
Lord, I'm coming home to you…

Since Tuesday night, Democrats all over the country are celebrating the results in Alabama’s special election for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Attorney General Jeff Sessions.  The victory by Doug Jones over Roy Moore was satisfying on so many fronts, and it’s easy to see why the Dems are giddy and emboldened at his moment in history.  Decency and dignity prevailed in the Yellowhammer State.

Democrats nabbed a crucial Senate seat in crimson red Alabama when no one ever thought it would be possible.  This result will facilitate regaining control over the Senate in 2018, but it is still a daunting task given that many Democrats have to defend their seats in states that went to Donald Trump in 2016.

The effect of the #MeToo movement was evident in the election as women, notably African-American women, put a stamp on this election and repudiated Roy Moore and his alleged sexual misconduct from earlier in his life—a point he steadfastly denies.

The Get Out the Vote (GOTV) effort by the Jones campaign in urban and suburban areas in particular was instrumental.  This should reinforce the criticality of getting the voters enthused enough to vote because no matter what district, there are always Democrats residing in it.  Democratic voters need to be motivated by a quality candidate and an articulate, persuadable message to be delivered by said candidate.

African-Americans, a vital component of the Democratic electorate, came through in this election bigly and carried Jones, a pro-choice candidate, over the finish line. This should have been a no-brainer given Moore’s racism and his nostalgia for the time that families were united when slavery existed.

Add that to the fact that Jones successfully prosecuted two of the Klansmen involved in the bombing of the 16^th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, nearly 40 years after the crime.

Nonetheless, Democratic candidates must deliver a message to African-Americans that resonate. Never take this voting bloc for granted. And they need to bolster GOTV efforts with that community.

Many Dems are also rejoicing because it brought Trump’s record in Alabama in 2017 elections to 0-2 and depriving him of a “huge win.”  Trump defied advice and got involved in this race by endorsing Moore.  By doing so, it brought back to the surface his own problems concerning sexual misconduct as several women reiterated their accusations.  It was a terrible political miscue.

The upset also smeared egg on the smearable face of Steve Bannon who thought that he is a big-shot powerbroker. He could still be a force to reckon with in 2018, but clearly his stock tanked.

However, before Democrats take their foot off the gas pedal and believe that they can glide into 2018 on a “blue wave,” there are some sobering realities as a result of this election. 

Roy Moore was beyond flawed as a candidate. Even prior to the sexual misconduct allegations including molesting a minor while he was in his 30’s, he was unpopular.  Besides the slavery comment, he had demonstrated his virulent bigotry toward LGBT people and Muslims. Yet, as his wife pointed out, we should not consider his to be anti-Semitic since one of his attorneys is “a Jew.”

Moore’s denials of the sexual misconduct allegations were so unconvincing (similar to Trump’s) that mainstream Republicans scattered to the hills including the state’s senior Senator Richard Shelby.

Moore ducked every opportunity to debate Jones and seldomly discussed specific issues facing the state and the nation without invoking God.

Yet, despite Moore’s deficiencies still nearly half the state’s voters supported him. The sun apparently doesn’t shine everywhere in Alabama as too many preferred a child molester to a Democrat.

But with the historic victory in Alabama on December 12, Democrats should feel elated and confident but should also be mindful there is much work to do.  Good candidates, effective messaging and flawed opponents who receive help from Trump-Bannon will help us take back America.