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Rust-Belt Republican Senators Tread Carefully on Trump
WSJ ^ | March 16, 2016 11:45 a.m. ET | Siobhan Hughes

Posted on 03/16/2016 9:24:00 AM PDT by GonzoII

MILWAUKEE—Six years ago, Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin unseated three-term Sen. Russ Feingold in a GOP wave fueled by a backlash against government spending and President Barack Obama’s signature health care overhaul.

This year he is in a rematch against Mr. Feingold. But instead of riding a wave, Mr. Johnson is navigating unpredictable currents stirred up by Donald Trump’s drive for the Republican presidential nomination.

The ability of Republicans to keep control of the Senate will depend on winning Rust Belt states such as Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Illinois. And within those states, they will need strong turnout—in particular the white, blue-collar voters who are plentiful in the industrial Midwest and have tended to vote Republican for years, but haven’t always been motivated to get to the polls.

This year, though, the Republicans’ best shot for boosting that turnout is Mr. Trump, who has built his campaign around an anti-immigration and antitrade message designed to appeal to those who feel left out of the globalized economy.

(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: Illinois; US: Ohio; US: Pennsylvania; US: Wisconsin
KEYWORDS: trump
"antitrade" = fair trade...fixed it.
1 posted on 03/16/2016 9:24:00 AM PDT by GonzoII
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To: GonzoII

The problem with the GOP its too stupid to make smart decisions.


2 posted on 03/16/2016 9:29:09 AM PDT by goldstategop ((In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives In My Heart Forever))
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To: GonzoII

canadian ted cruz has announced he has won the foxnews/utah debate.


3 posted on 03/16/2016 9:30:19 AM PDT by biggredd1
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To: GonzoII

Perhaps Ron Johnson should have governed like he said he was going to when he ran for office. Then, he wouldn’t be in the situation that he is in now. Johnson can’t blame Trump for his own ineptitude.


4 posted on 03/16/2016 9:32:28 AM PDT by stratboy
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To: goldstategop

They make smart decisions if you look at it from their viewpoint. Control of the party is paramount. It does not matter so much if they are majority, or minority. Minority party actually has benefits as they can blame problems on the D’s. Its more problematic when they have control, but side with the D’s. Accountability is tougher.


5 posted on 03/16/2016 9:40:26 AM PDT by zek157
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To: GonzoII

So DT is too good to debate his opposition in the scheduled debates? It’s a job interview. Even Hillary debates Bernie every chance she gets, because she wants to sway his supporters in the general election. She has the democrat nomination. DT doesn’t have even 50% of republications supporting him. He will never get support by avoiding situations he doesn’t feel comfortable with.


6 posted on 03/16/2016 9:41:36 AM PDT by progunsantichoice
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To: GonzoII

Johnson sold out to the establishment fairly quickly. Supporting secret trade deals and “immigration reform” demonstrate a blatant disregard for American sovereignty and a betrayal of the Tea Party base that put him into office.

He will get crushed by the Dem-Feingold, and that’s HIS fault.


7 posted on 03/16/2016 9:43:55 AM PDT by grumpygresh (We don't have Democrats and Republicans, we have the Faustian uni-party)
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To: GonzoII
Johnson is in trouble against Feingold. Wisconsin supported Scott Walker 3x, and that might give people the misimpression that conservatives have a chance there, but those were not elections coinciding with a presidential election. In 2008 Obama beat McCain by 14% and in 2012 Obama beat Romney by 7%. That is indicative of the different population of voters that turns out there in a presidential election year as opposed to mid-terms, like the 2010 election that got Johnson to the Senate.

Johnson was in trouble before Trump built up a head of steam in the primaries, so he's not the best example of the kind of difficulty that Trump could cause for GOP Senators on the ballot this fall. But it is something that Trump enthusiasts have to face. If he gains the nomination and then loses by 5-8 points or more nationwide, there will be a lot of down ballot destruction. That means a President Hillary Clinton gets sworn in to face a Democratic majority in the Senate with what will then almost certainly be 2 Supreme Court vacancies (the Scalia seat and that of Justice Ginsberg, who will likely retire in July.) I have not seen any analysis of how large a deficit between Clinton and Trump would be necessary to flip the House, but that is possible too.

8 posted on 03/16/2016 9:51:55 AM PDT by Wally_Kalbacken
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To: progunsantichoice

Any more debates are pointless.

L


9 posted on 03/16/2016 10:19:27 AM PDT by Lurker (Violence is rarely the answer. But when it is it is the only answer.)
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To: Wally_Kalbacken

I don’t really see the point you’re making, so I’m going to guess you think Trump will do worse against Hillary than someone else.

I think that’s delusional. He’ll beat her like a drum, even if not in Wisconsin and if Johnson loses to Feingold he would have lost anyway.


10 posted on 03/16/2016 11:13:52 AM PDT by Nacho Bidnith (America is a country founded by geniuses and run by idiots. Trump 2016)
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