A new edition of @FrontlinePBS debuts this Tuesday, April 10. "Trump's Takeover." It's a deep look at the GOP over the past year. https://t.co/yyHdvTXvws pic.twitter.com/8FPSEAA3S8
— Robert Costa (@costareports) April 9, 2018
If you want to watch some #ProfilesinCowardice, watch GOP leaders tomorrow ducking the Mueller question.
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) April 10, 2018
Paul Ryan’s tears, they are delicious! From the Washington Post, “GOP increasingly fears loss of House, focuses on saving Senate majority”:
Republicans are increasingly worried they will lose control of the House in the midterm elections, spurring an urgent campaign to hold the Senate with a simple message: Only the majority will ensure confirmation of conservative judges and President Trump’s nominees.
To many, the Senate is emerging as a critical barrier against Democrats demolishing Trump’s agenda beginning in 2019. Worse yet, some in the GOP fear, Democrats could use complete control of Congress to co-opt the ideologically malleable president and advance their own priorities.
Democratic enthusiasm is surging in suburban districts that House Republicans are struggling to fortify, causing GOP officials, donors and strategists to fret. They have greater confidence in more-rural red states that Trump won convincingly and that make up the bulk of the Senate battlefield.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and his allies are seeking to capitalize on concerns about the House. He is leading an effort to motivate conservative voters by reminding them that his side of the Capitol has the unilateral power to confirm federal judges to lifetime appointments and Trump administration nominees.
Trump is showing a keen interest in the Senate landscape, raising money for a highly touted challenger, helping clear the primary field for an endangered senator and playfully engaging in an intraparty contest…
Oh yeah, Donny Dolllhands is gonna be such a big help right now — in the time he can spare from avoiding Robert Mueller. And Stormy Daniels. And all the other Trump-scam-victim plantiffs…
While some Republicans believe they can expand their 51-to-49 Senate advantage, simply holding the slim majority has grown increasingly more complicated. Hard-right Republicans running in Arizona and Mississippi and a competitive open race in Tennessee could lead to Democratic gains. An even better pickup opportunity exists for Democrats in Nevada.
But on the whole, the Democratic path to the Senate majority is more daunting: They are defending 26 seats to just nine for the Republicans. Trump won in 10 of the states where Democrats are playing defense. They include North Dakota, West Virginia, Indiana and Missouri — all states he won by 19 points or more.
In the House, Republicans have built their ranks on locking down seats in suburban and exurban districts. But in these areas, Democratic turnout has been high in elections over the past year, fueled by anger with Trump. If Democrats can gain 23 House seats, they will clinch the majority.
Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) put the chances of holding the House majority at “50-50.” The veteran party strategist warned that “the environment could easily continue to deteriorate,” and said he didn’t begrudge McConnell for pitching his case for the Senate….
But how does Pauly Blue Eyes feel about getting thrown under the Trump bus caravan?
Michael Steele, a former Republican National Committee chairman, said the House “may be further gone than people like to admit publicly.” While many in the party worry about a Democratic House and Senate launching an endless string of hearings and investigations into Trump, Steele said he has a different concern — that Democrats will work with the president to pass legislation that Republicans won’t like.
“Trump will cut whatever deal he can get a vote on,” he said. The president, he argued, “is an opportunist.”…
After the way the GOP dumped Michael Steele a hot second after promoting him as their ‘Black Best Friend’ was no longer so important, the man has to be enjoying his former employers’ plight, just a little. What’s the old Chinese proverb — Sit by the river long enough, and the bodies of your enemies will float past…
Tuesday Morning Open Thread: The Sorrow of the RepubsPost + Comments (187)