Trump meltdown sets off GOP alarms over 2018 midterm

[DonViejo]

Source: Politico

A three-day party gathering highlights senior Republican officials grappling with a profoundly unstable White House.

By ALEX ISENSTADT 05/13/17 07:18 AM EDT

Members of the Republican National Committee gather in Coronado, Calif., Friday, May 12. | AP Photo

CORONADO, Calif. — With the White House in meltdown mode, top Republican Party officials and operatives gathered at a posh oceanside resort here and contemplated a 2018 midterm election that will test them in unimaginable ways.

At the Republican National Committee’s spring meeting, strategists expressed alarm about a pair of upcoming special House elections and what they might portend for the battle for the lower chamber next year. One high-profile potential candidate outlined how he would distinguish himself from the embattled president. And, as often happens with a party in peril, fingers were already being pointed over next year’s races.

The private talks over the three-day meeting pulled back the curtain on a Republican Party leadership grappling with a profoundly unstable White House. While some attendees shrugged off the firestorm surrounding the firing of FBI Director James Comey and put a positive spin on the latest Trump controversy, others conceded they were struggling to adapt to a political moment without precedent.

“I don’t think there is anything to compare it to. You have a non-politician who’s the president, so he doesn’t do things in a political way and that completely drives insiders of both parties bonkers because they don’t understand it,” said Randy Evans, a Republican National Committeeman from Georgia who was a top adviser to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. “Right now, we’re just in a completely different and foreign political environment where pollsters and pundits and focus groups don’t matter.”


Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2017/05/13/trump-2018-midterms-gop-alarm-238342

[Dawson Leery]

1. Rigging the vote is the only way "worse than ISIS' can win next year.

[llmart]

2. Wow!

What a diverse group of Americans.

Every gathering of the GOP looks the same. Mostly, if not all, white. How representative of our nation.

[crosinski]

8. No, no! The women are not all wearing red jackets. That's a sure sign that something is amiss!

[Kashkakat v.2.0]

3. what "meltdown" are they referring to - everything just continuing as it has been the last

2 yrs. Arent we used to the "new normal" yet??????

[Kashkakat v.2.0]

4. If I was there Id tell those people- the problem isnt your prez, its YOUR OWN enabling behavior.

They could have nipped this in the bud lllllloooooonnnnngggg time ago, but chose not to. And are still chosing not to.

[Ligyron]

5. You know, Republican groups are constantly having meetings, strategy sessions, etc.

They have think tanks, support groups state and federal with lots of $$ behind everything.

Us? Not so much...

[bresue]

6. AND NO ONE IS SPEAKINIG ABOUT WAKING THE MOTHER BEARS FROM SLEEP

The next election....the mother bears have been awoken and disturbed by this health care situation. I was one of those sleeping bears....and many of my fellow mother bears have also been pushed awake. We will not allow this to happen again....Ruplicans are not getting a free ride any longer. And Rublicans have tarnished their party for the next 10 to 20 years.

[kimbutgar]

7. All that's missing from that meeting is the White gowns and hoods

That room is so white it's blinding my eyes.

[Achilleaze]

9. shame shame shame on the whole rotten republican lot of them

shame on republicans who refusr to lift a finger to defend America against the Acts of War* being perpetrated agains the USA by the evil empire** of russia.

SHAME. Do not pretend you are Americans. You are republicans. SHAME.

* per dick cheney
** per ronald reagan

[dalton99a]

10. Looks like a scammers' convention

[llmart]

12. All it's missing is...

Betsy DeVos of the Scamway company.

[J_William_Ryan]

11. Republicans refuse to acknowledge the truth.

“I don’t think there is anything to compare it to. You have a non-politician who’s the president, so he doesn’t do things in a political way and that completely drives insiders of both parties bonkers because they don’t understand it...”

Wrong.

They have a perfect understanding – unlike Democrats, Republicans are blind partisan cowards who can’t admit it.

You have a non-politician who has no grounding or experience in law, governance, and public policy, and as a consequence has no idea what he’s doing – Trump is incompetent and unfit to be president - that this dysfunctional WH is in meltdown mode is proof of that.

[murielm99]

13. Which trump meltdown are they referring to?

There is a new one every day.

And don't tell me that Democrats are not organizing. I am seeing more grassroots organizations. I am seeing more attendance at county central committee meetings, and more workshops for candidates. I am seeing great demonstrations and voter registration drives. I am seeng Democrats take seats at the local and state levels in places where they have never won before.

If we sustain this and GOTV, we will make some headway. Will we get everything we want in 2018? Maybe not. But we will make some significant gains.

They are the ones going bonkers, not us. We may not get rid of trump right away, but we will tie him around their necks, and we will get rid of him, and many of them.

[JPPaverage]

14. Well it could be trump

Or it could be the fact that the repukes voted to gut the Affordable Care Act with no suitable replacement and then refuse to answer constituents questions about it.