Posted on 01/11/2018 10:02:00 PM PST by Oshkalaboomboom
Veteran Republicans are fretting that their party is ill-prepared for a brutal midterm campaign that will be largely dictated by President Trump.
After years of running against former President Barack Obama, and with so many Republicans in Congress having been elected since the GOP wave elections of 2010 and 2014, few have experience in withstanding the sort of strong headwinds generated by full control of government and an unpopular president of their own party.
[Republicans not running for re-election in 2018]
Many Republicans appear unconvinced that major Democratic gains are even possible this November. Despite polls showing danger ahead, they are comforting themselves with the memory of Trump’s unlikely victory, in defiance of long political odds and expert prognosticators.
“There’s probably is a little bit of optimism that, we’re not going to lose the majority — that it’s going to be bad but we won’t lose,” a House Republican with deep political experience told the Washington Examiner Thursday, on condition of anonymity in order to speak candidly. “I think it’s very likely we’ll lose the majority if we don’t change some factors. We’ve got to change the landscape or we’re going to lose the majority for sure.”
Sen. John Thune of South Dakota is encouraged by the initial precautions his party is taking to protect its majorities in Congress. The third-ranking Senate Republican is optimistic that a booming economy and recently passed tax overhaul that could cut taxes for millions of voters gives the GOP a strong opportunity to hold the line.
Thune lived through the Democratic tsunamis of 2006 and 2008, each a rejection of GOP leadership in Congress and President George W. Bush. He warned fellow Republicans to be mindful of history, and the pitfalls of being tied to a polarizing president whose job approval rating has hovered around 40 percent for most of his first year in office.
“Most midterms are about the incumbent in the White House and I think this midterm will largely about that too,” Thune told reporters this week.
Midterm elections historically benefit the party out of power in the White House. Ratcheting up the threat level for the Republicans are Trump’s low approval ratings and a generic ballot — testing which political party voters would prefer control Congress — that heavily favors the Democrats.
To ensure rank-and-file Republicans treat the risks to their power seriously, and don’t dismiss the warning signs as “fake news” or Trump bias, GOP leaders are working overtime to create a sense of urgency among their members and equip them for battle.
In the House, where the 24-seat Republican majority is particularly vulnerable, the National Republican Congressional Committee, the House GOP campaign arm, is regularly counseling incumbents in battleground districts.
In the Senate, where Republicans hold a 51-49 majority, GOP leaders are warning against complacency. Most seats up for election this year are held by Democrats, many situated in states Trump won. “Don’t fall in love with the map,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has cautioned. “The map doesn’t win elections.”
Leaving nothing to chance, Republican leaders are planning a major presentation on the 2018 elections during the upcoming joint House-Senate policy retreat in West Virginia to detail and drive home the political challenges confronting the party.
The Republicans picked up 63 Democrat-held House seats and a half-dozen Senate seats on Election Day 2010. After suffering minor losses in 2012, when Obama was re-elected, the GOP rode a second wave of gains in 2014, winning 13 additional House districts and flipping nine Senate seats.
Combined with the number of Republicans elected to GOP-held seats during that same period, that makes for a lot of Republicans who have only tasted victory during their tenure in Congress. Still, Republican insiders are expressing confidence that their message is being heard and that these incumbents are doing what is necessary to survive in a turbulent atmosphere. Rep. Ryan Costello, elected in 2014, is one who hasn’t let his guard down.
The Pennsylvania Republican has the benefit of representing a swing suburban district that forces him to stay aggressive and engaged. He regularly holds town hall meetings and stays attentive to his constituents’ concerns. Costello said that his impression is that his Republican colleagues are largely cognizant, ready, and doing what’s necessary to win.
“Everybody is aware of what the environment is because they deal with … people every week protesting outside their office — I know I do,” he said. “There’s a lot more intensity right now than there ever has been.”
There is the establishment “conservative” section of the GOP which is completely sold out to China.
Completely so.
Trump has sounded like he means to rebuild American businesses. He hasn’t yet, and it’s starting to take a long time. But he has said all the right things.
I think the establishment “conservative” section of the GOP can get lost, for all the help they are doing.
Aren’t they the same bunch that did not want to win in 2016?
Do us all a favor and retire so we can get some new blood in there.
President Trump always reminds the left of their most famous sitcom, All in the family. President Trump rarely utters a thought or tweet his supporters haven’t wished they’d of tweeted or said. Most are not financially secure enough to publicly put on their MAGA hats and tell their liberal friends, bosses, coworkers or family members that “the Donald” is a hero and they are waiting to hear him look at these elitists and very loudly proclaim “You are Fired”.
The left would be appalled by the celebrations in the street to see some of ‘the best and brightest’ illuminated leaders of the ‘world’ be perp walked for treason. On another note, perhaps the real reason for supporting illegals is to Not gain voters- (I think this is a red herring), but to create mass confusion to cover up heinous and widespread human trafficking among sexually enlightened illuminati wannabes among the elites.
A wall, end to DACA, no anchor babies, no lottery, no chain migration and all that are left are those that have been trafficked. And those who are complicit. Perhaps as the new ‘blue’ commercials from the DHS are playing one can see this might be closer to the truth. MAGA!
Donald Trum has set the GOP up with the best economic news in 8 years and an agenda that beat 16 Republicans and 1 Democrat in 2016. If they lose seats they have only themselves to blame.
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Agreed. They’re more obstructionist than the dems. Why vote for a party that lies to get elected because once in power they move to the left on Obamacare and DACA!
To better understand "THE MASTER KEY" to stealing elections with computers, watch: 
Bennie Smith, a Memphis computer programmer, discovered HOW this is done through aDonald can help give businesses more space to rebuild. But they have to do it themselves. Otherwise “they didn’t build that.”
“I think it’s very likely we’ll lose the majority if we don’t change some factors. We’ve got to change the landscape or we’re going to lose the majority for sure.”
This would be pretty easy. (1) Repeal Obamacare (2) Reject DACA (3) Build the wall. Trump was just elected president on those campaign promises. Keep your word, keep your majority.
The GOPe is busily preparing to lose the necessary seats in the house and senate in order to get President Trump impeached and removed from office in his second two years.
The DC UniParty must get control of the situation. The little people must be put in their place!
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