This is why I cannot stand GOP operatives.
Politico is reporting that a group of nearly 70 ex-RNC staffers, ex-GOP Congressmen and ex-GOP Senators have signed a letter begging the RNC to drop its support for Donald Trump and instead focus the entirety of its financial resources on protecting GOP House and Senate majorities.
“We believe that Donald Trump’s divisiveness, recklessness, incompetence, and record-breaking unpopularity risk turning this election into a Democratic landslide, and only the immediate shift of all available RNC resources to vulnerable Senate and House races will prevent the GOP from drowning with a Trump-emblazoned anchor around its neck,” states a draft of the letter obtained by POLITICO. “This should not be a difficult decision, as Donald Trump’s chances of being elected president are evaporating by the day.”
The irony of ironies is that this effort is being led by Andrew Weinstein, a vocal anti-Trump Republican whose major credential is serving as Director of Media Relations for the 1996 Dole-Kemp presidential campaign. Let me remind folks about the outcome of that campaign. Bob Dole won just 159 electoral votes and lost the popular vote to Bill Clinton by 8.5 percent.
I think it’s fair that people who have survived a disaster, as Weinstein did, can have an important perspective on avoiding a future disaster. But I have less respect for their position when their basic complaint is that Trump’s campaign does not fully resemble the disaster that was the 1996 Dole campaign, which Weinstein helped orchestrate.
The “exes” continue their grievances, via Politico:
The letter ticks off a series of Trump actions that they believe have “alienated millions of voters of all parties,” including, attacking Gold Star families, positive comments about violent foreign leaders and encouraging Russia to find Clinton’s lost emails.
“Those recent outrages have built on his campaign of anger and exclusion…”
Well, okay. But how inclusive can the campaigns of failed candidates like Bob Dole, John McCain, and Mitt Romney possibly be when they failed to fully tap into the Reagan coalition of the 1980s, failed to appeal to working class Americans, and most importantly, failed to win?
Yes, Trump says the darndest things. Republican operatives continue to publicly bicker about Trump’s foot-in-mouth disease, as if that alone is enough of a reason to be #NeverTrump. But the terrible things that Hillary Clinton actually does, and will continue to do as President, should be of far more concern to Republicans.
This is an important presidential election. The next president will determine the nation’s future on everything from abortion to tax policy. And there are only two choices — Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Any effort made to oppose Trump will help drive margins for Hillary Clinton, and by extension, help the Democrats win crucial down-ballot races.
Frank Cannon is President of the American Principles Project and a respected conservative political strategist with over 30 years of experience.
