The Times piece also describes the intense pressure on Gov. John Kasich of Ohio to leave the race, and Kasich’s equally intense refusal to do so. But perhaps the best gauge of the panic setting in comes from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell:
“While still hopeful that Mr. Rubio might prevail, Mr. McConnell has begun preparing senators for the prospect of a Trump nomination, assuring them that, if it threatened to harm them in the general election, they could run negative ads about Mr. Trump to create space between him and Republican senators seeking re-election. Mr. McConnell has raised the possibility of treating Mr. Trump’s loss as a given and describing a Republican Senate to voters as a necessary check on a President Hillary Clinton, according to senators at the lunches.”
That is a drowning man grasping at straws. There is almost zero chance that the Republicans would be able to hold the Senate if Trump is the electoral disaster that McConnell apparently fears. And Republican senators running anti-Trump ads? Any senator who took that course would alienate a good chunk of their own base, ensuring their defeat.
(Excerpt) Read more at jaybookman.blog.myajc.com ...
