I agree with your comments; its one thing to pick someone like Sessions, whose replacement will be another conservative Republican in Alabama, as opposed to Price, whose north Atlanta suburban district Trump carried by one point. Same with Zinke in Montana; it opened up his House seat to a possible loss and makes it a lot less likely that the strongest challenger to Tester in 2018 will run for the Senate in Montana. Not a lot of strategic thinking here that I can see.
Yes - Yes - Yes!!! Well said! Excellent summary for what both of us are observing. Exactly the sort of stuff Trump used to preach to his Apprentices on the TV show.