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Blog No. 116. Standing With Paul Ryan and the Way Forward

On Monday, Speaker Paul Ryan told House members that he would not defend Donald Trump or campaign with him, and that members should act in their own best interests in their individual districts. Ryan did not withdraw his previous endorsement of Trump, but to many that seemed more a matter of form than substance. Ryan’s statements produced an angry reaction from hardliners in the House and, inevitably, a farrago of pre-dawn cyberbabble from the would be Tweeter-in-Chief:

  • Our very weak and ineffective leader, Paul Ryan, had a bad conference call where his members went wild at his disloyalty. 6:05 AM – 11 Oct 2016

  • With the exception of cheating Bernie out of the nom the Dems have always proven to be far more loyal to each other than the Republicans! 7:15 AM – 11 Oct 2016

  • Disloyal R’s are far more difficult than Crooked Hillary. They come at you from all sides. They don’t know how to win – I will teach them! 7:48 AM – 11 Oct 2016

  • It is so nice that the shackles have been taken off me and I can now fight for America the way I want to. 7:00 AM – 11 Oct 2016

Paul Ryan’s endorsement of Trump in June had been made with conspicuous reluctance and nothing in the ensuing months had provided any reason for enthusiasm on the Speaker’s part. Many in the #NeverTrump movement had been critical of Ryan for not opposing Trump or at least refusing an endorsement. We, on the other hand, had been inclined to cut Ryan more slack on the grounds that his opposition would not have been effective in halting the Trump tsunami and that it might have made him needlessly vulnerable to the right-wing claque in the House that had succeeded in ousting John Boehner.  Ryan’s change of position at this point was precipitated by the disclosure of a 2005 video tape on which Trump was seen graphically describing his own conduct as a sexual predator.

The video tape was so distasteful that within hours, dozens of prominent Republicans had announced that they would no longer support his candidacy. There was considerable speculation that Trump might quit the race or that the Republican National Committee might find a way to replace him. Alas, neither would occur. Trump pulled himself together enough to mount something of a defense at the scheduled debate with Hillary Clinton on Sunday. His defense consisted of an apology and a mantra that he had merely been engaging in “locker room banter.” After being repeatedly pressed by a moderator, Anderson Cooper, Trump uttered a terse denial that he had actually engaged in the conduct about which he had smugly boasted. Paul Ryan could not have been persuaded by Trump’s defense. Even Chris Christie, a prominent Trump supporter, found the apology insufficient and, unfortunately for Trump, his comments on the tape appeared far more believable than those he offered from the stage in St. Louis. (On Wednesday, the New York Times reported the stories of two women who recalled that Trump had treated them in exactly the manner he had described on the video. We think it likely that more such stories will emerge in the next few weeks.)

Nor would Ryan have been impressed by Trump’s other antics at the debate. Sensing the weakness of his “apologize and deny” strategy, Trump attempted to mount a counterattack based on long-stale allegations of sexual misconduct by Bill Clinton. To that end, he staged a pre-debate “press conference” to which he had invited, at his expense, three of Bill Clinton’s accusers.  Also joining the spectacle was a woman who had been raped by a man whom Hillary Clinton had represented, at the request of the court, in 1975. It is unlikely that this sordid exercise impressed any undecided voters although it may have stoked the animal spirits of some in Trump’s base for whom Clintonphobia is paramount.

Later, during the debate, Trump continued to treat the event as an occasion for mud-wrestling, making the remarkable pronouncement that, if elected, he would ask his Attorney General to appoint a Special Prosecutor to investigate Clinton’s “situation.” He then went further to tell Clinton that if he were president, “You’d be in jail.” That latter comment, the Weekly Standard told its its readers, “should terrify you and be disqualifying all on its own.” The only aspect of Clinton’s situation that Trump cited was in making a false allegation that she had destroyed 33,000 emails that were under subpoena. There is to be sure, much to criticize in Clinton’s handling of emails, but Trump’s threat of prosecution and incarceration was as ill-grounded as it was unsavory. Michael B. Mukasey, a former federal judge and attorney general in the George W. Bush administration (and a severe critic of Hillary Clinton) echoed numerous observers in comparing Trump’s threat to that of a dictator in a “banana republic.” “This is not the way we conduct politics here,” Mukasey said.

In short, there were abundant reasons for Ryan to distance himself from Trump and to advise House members that they were also free to do so. While some Republicans who had abandoned Trump over the weekend are now reported to have backtracked, we doubt that Ryan’s leadership will be subjected to any serious challenge. If it should be, however, Ryan must be vigorously defended.

The Wall Street Journal, in a rather agonized editorial on Tuesday, also recognized the need for House members to act as they see fit in hopes of assuring their own reelection and continued Republican control of that chamber. The Journal, however, also expressed a curious concern over the position of NeverTrumpians:

The more puzzling criticism comes from NeverTrumpians who appear willing to have Republicans lose the House and Senate as punishment for even associating with Mr. Trump. In that they are allied with the Pelosi and Elizabeth Warren Democrats, albeit themselves safely insulated from the political consequences. It makes no sense to purge Republicans who share your principles who will be needed to rebuild the GOP if Mr. Trump loses.

We do not know, and the Journal did not pause to tell us, what particular NeverTrumpians it had in mind. In fact, the talk of punishment runs principally the other way. There have been numerous reports of die-hard supporters of Trump who are promising to vote against those who decline to support their hero, and it is they who pose the greatest threat to Republican control of the Senate and House.

The Journal editor did highlight a significant problem for Republicans: According to a Wall Street Journal-NBC News poll published Monday, “Some 67% of Republican voters said Congress should continue to support Mr. Trump, while 14% say they should call on him to drop out and 9% say they can’t support him personally.” Thus the problem is not just elected Republicans who continue to support Trump, but the constituents who support them. And that is a problem that will not go away on November 8, no matter what the result. The Republican Party must find a way of addressing the concerns of the deeply discontented who have been drawn to Trump, but it must do so in ways consistent with the ideals and traditions of the party. Without suggesting that those who hold deplorable views are themselves deplorable or irredeemable, there is a clear need for the party to expand—and change—its base.

Jennifer Rubin, a conservative writer in the Washington Post, put it very well:

The GOP certainly needs principled, forward leading candidates. But what it needs is a new constituency. The Fox TV audience/the talk show addicts/the birthers are incapable of sustaining viable candidates. The GOP as it is will never amount to an electoral majority, in part because what excites it turns off almost every other group. The crass, vulgar, angry and irrational mob that thrills when Trump acts like a madman is not a base around which a successful national party can be built. Know-nothingism, xenophobia and misogyny are enough to garner the GOP nomination, which explains why the GOP is unable to field a winning candidate.

It is no longer a matter of “just” losing minority and women voters. That was sufficient to give Dems a 200+ electoral vote advantage. Now, however, the Trump/Sean Hannity/Laura Ingraham/evangelical charlatan/anti-immigrant/nativist party cannot retain white-college educated voters or millennials. That is why the White House and very likely the Senate will be lost. It’s also why thoughtful Republicans understand that there should be an alternative to liberal statism. It is why there will need to be a party not dependent on Trumpkins, one accessible to educated people, minorities, women and others.

It will not be an easy task, but RINOcracy.com will be among the cheerleaders.

12 thoughts on “Blog No. 116. Standing With Paul Ryan and the Way Forward”

  1. There is still the arrogance of the rule-stressing, self-righteous, puritanical legalist, is there not? We are faced with four difficult years because morality and accountability still counts.

  2. Great post. How did such a vulgar and abusive man win the presidential nomination of a major political party? That is the first question all Americans should be asking themselves.

    There were several other good candidates to chose from, yet the base voted for Trump — a loud-mouthed professed billionaire with nothing in common with the vast majority of GOP primart voters.

    Did they really believe Trump had their interests at heart? That he had the experience and temperament to be president? This is the man who never did anything to help anyone but himself, who stole money from his “charitable” foundation. The man who said he lost hundreds of friends in tthe WTC attacks on 9/11 but did not attend a single funeral.

    We must figure out what went wrong. How did a freak become the presidential nominee of a major political party in Anerica?

    ps Trump will not be our next president.
    But Trumpism is not dead. We must
    eradicate it insofar as possible.

    .

  3. Sound advice from Paul Ryan, and an astute analysis of a chaotic, unfortunate political situation by Doug Parker. No one with a total lack of governmental principles and knowledge, and a total absence of behavioral and emotional impulse control, should ever be near the White House, or even be running for that office. The GOP’s job now is to rebuild and regain their credibility.

  4. Trump is a pig, sexist and otherwise but the next President will nominate 3 or 4 Supreme Court justices, were talking about losing the Supreme Court for a generation or more if Hilary is elected President. Additional, if one thinks they know what Hilary will do, you don’t since she herself admits to having both private and public positions and probably more than one public position, depending upon whom she is talking to.

    I can see why many in the Republican party can be repulsed by Trump but one needs to prioritize what’s important for the U.S. versus style, I think people need to understand the difference between the two.

    1. The president has the power to annhilate mankind. The Supreme Court has no such power. The lame-duck Congress can confirm chief DC Circuit Judge Garland. an apolitical mainstream judge, to replace Justice Scalia.

  5. I was out much of the day today, but the latest news (reportedly) is that Trump tweeted that he would win if only men were allowed to vote, and various Trump supporters jumped on board to finish his thought, i.e, in tweets calling for the repeal of the 19th Amendment.

    Hey, I’m a Democrat, but I share your sympathy for Paul Ryan (not to mention Wellesley-grad Mrs. Ryan, who must be having the vapors by now). However, seems to me that the vulnerable GOP House members are probably mostly “moderates” in “purple” districts…so if any significant number of them lose to Dem challengers, Ryan will be faced with a GOP Conference (even if the GOP hangs on to its majority, which I assume it will) that will be more dominated by the yahoos than it is now.
    For those of us who are centrist-Democrats, this is a troubling prospect. I think Ryan is a serious person, and the kind of Speaker who would use his clout to reach compromise (but so was Boehner), which is essential if our form of government is to function effectively and rationally…and I think Hillary is also a serious person and pragmatic enough to work with him. But I see only determined gridlock looming on the horizon, even if we manage to keep Daffy-Dangerous-Donald from winning the Presidency. Alas.

    In the meantime, since Donald “famously” doesn’t drink (although his 3AM tweets cause me to wonder), I think I’ll reach for a Miller Lite right now, before he repeals the 21st Amendment along with the 19th.

  6. If there is anything positive coming from Trump’s campaign, it brings into focus that Washington must become more responsive to the people rather than continue to ram the same rhetoric down our throats. As ugly as this had been, and is, and will probably continue, it is well past time for the good old “boys” of both parties to recognize and ACCEPT that politics as usual is not working as THEY would like. Trump understands this well, but unfortunately uses it for his interests only.

    His talk this morning, before I walked away, reminded me of Hitler rallying the people and I felt a raw fear never before experienced in a presidential campaign.

  7. I RESPECT AND ADMIRE RYAN. SEVERAL MEMBERS OF MY FAMILY IN WISCONSIN KNOW HIM AS A GOOD AND HONEST MAN. FOR MYSELF I WISH HE JUST SAID I WITHDRAW MY ILL ADVISED ENDORSEMENT OF TRUMP. AS SPEAKER AND A MAN OF VALUES IOWE MY COUNTRY AND FELLOW CITIZENS THE TRUTH AS I SEE IT.

    1. Hi Bruce. Yea, that would have been better. But I’m okay with Ryan. He disinvited Trump from a Wisconsin rally and refuses to campaign with or for him. I think Republicans get it.

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