Republicans In Congress Will Sink With Trump In 2020 Because They're In Too Deep To Extricate Themselves

Has he gotten better, Susie?

A few days ago Susan Collins (R-ME), who faces a tough reelection battle next year, was asked on PBS NewsHour live by Judy Woodruff whether she will endorse Trump's reelection bid. Her reply must be pissing Trump off no end-- "I'm not prepared at this point to make that decision." When pressed if she'd endorse Trump later, she refused to budge: "I don’t know. I’m going to have to see what happens between now and then and look at what his record is. I can’t imagine I would endorse any of the Democrats who are running right now, but I’m going to focus on 2020 in 2020."

If she refuses to endorse him she could lose about a third of the vote-- the Trumpist base-- and instantly lose her own reelection. If she does endorse him, she can kiss independents-- and that reelection bid of her own-- goodbye.

The Independent Journal Review asked the 2016 "Never Trump" Republicans if they plan to support the failed, illegitimate president this time around. They all face the same conundrum Collins faces. Rob Portman (R-OH) and the very vulnerable Cory Gardner (R-CO) have given up and have both announced they're backing Adolph Hitler Donald Trump.

“I intended to support the Republican incumbent,” [Portman] told IJR. And like other Republicans, Portman said he’s basically supporting Trump because he’s already the president.

“What changed?” Portman replied when asked why he’s changed his mind. “Well, he’s the incumbent. I mean, he’s in office, I work with him every day.

“I disagree with him publicly and privately when appropriate. But I also get a lot done, and I get that done with him. So we work with the White House, and I think that’s important for Ohio,” Portman added.

Portman has been critical of the president, including pushing back on Trump when he called Democrats “treasonous” for not applauding enough during last year’s State of the Union address.

Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO), another Republican senator who vocally opposed Trump in 2016, told IJR that he’s endorsing the president now because it’s the “right thing to do for Colorado.”

“Look, there are things here-- look, I’ve made it very clear that where I agree with the president, we will agree or where I disagree, we will disagree,” Gardner told IJR. “But I’m going to fight like hell for Colorado, and we’ve done some good things for Colorado.

“I know what Kamala Harris and I know what Bernie Sanders will do to Colorado, and that’s why I’ll be supporting the president,” Gardner added.

Gardner called for Trump to step aside in 2016 and said the only way Republicans would defeat Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton “is with a new nominee that reflects the values of our country and our party.”

Both Portman and Gardner find themselves in complicated states politically. Portman isn’t up for re-election until 2022, but Ohio, which Trump won in 2016, has gradually soured on the president over the course of the administration’s first few years.

According to Morning Consult polling, the Buckeye State has dropped from a plus-14 net approval for Trump at the start of his presidency to a net approval of minus-3 in its latest update.

Unlike Portman, Gardner is up for re-election in 2020 and in a state (Colorado) that not only voted for Clinton in 2016 but has a significantly lower net approval of Trump, falling from plus-1 at the beginning of his presidency to minus-16 as of December 2018.

...During his first week in Washington, freshman Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT), who’s been a persistent critic of the president dating back to the 2016 campaign, also said he’s not sure he can support Trump in 2020.

“I haven’t decided who I’m going to endorse in 2020. I’m going to wait and see what the alternatives are,” Romney said in an interview.

Other “Never Trump” Republicans refused to weigh in on whether or not they would support their own party’s president in the upcoming election. Sens. Ben Sasse (R-NE) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) both declined to comment when asked where their support will land in 2020.

It’s important to point out just how abnormal it is for so many Republicans to either refuse to comment or cast doubt on whether or not they will support the leader of their own party in the upcoming presidential election.

To be fair, most Republicans will support the president in the general election, even if some seem to be doing so by default.

“Yes. Why, is someone running against him?” Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) replied when asked if he plans to back Trump, his former 2016 rival. “It’s my intention, of course, to support the nominee. And he’ll be the nominee.”

So they'll all vote for Trump not because they love him but because they have something against how Bernie and Elizabeth Warren propose to help ordinary American families in their states. No America over party? Not even with this destructive madman? Like they find something wrong with this?