A New Tribalism Spreads in Donald Trumps Washington - Gerald Seib

[question everything]

The problem in Washington is no longer simply paralyzing partisanship. The danger at the moment is that the capital could be sliding into a kind of tribalism.

(snip)

For now, think of the capital as divided among five tribes:

The Trump Tribe. This group is made up of the president, his advisers and his wider administration. The president is essentially an independent force who won office with limited support from his Republican Party’s leaders, and who now is surrounded in the White House largely by people with limited government experience. Administration officials’ loyalty is more to their president than to the party that runs Congress, and many Capitol Hill Republicans appear to feel limited loyalty in return. That was illustrated in the health debacle.

Mr. Trump’s own loyalty is largely to his voters outside Washington. And those voters are standing with him. The Journal’s Dante Chinni dug deep into Gallup’s presidential job-approval numbers for February and March and found that, even as Mr. Trump’s approval ratings slumped nationally, they actually went up in the working-class and Appalachian counties that form his base.

Governing Republicans. These are Republicans who think that, after waiting years to gain full control of the government, it’s essential the party show that it can get things done, even if that means accepting compromises. Mr. Cole estimates that, while this group had comprised about 70 of the House’s 237 Republicans, the health-bill episode actually has drawn in more members alarmed by that failure. He estimates its size now as 100 or more. This group also is well represented in the Senate.

Freedom Caucus Republicans. This is a group that, at its core, consists of about 40 of the House’s most conservative Republicans. (The exact number isn’t clear and shifts around a bit.) They are the people who stood in the way of the bill to repeal and replace Obamacare because they thought it didn’t sufficiently adhere to their principles. The Freedom Caucus has in the past found sympathizers in the Senate: Ted Cruz, Mike Lee, Rand Paul. Mr. Trump has spent the past few days sniping at the Freedom Caucus, and its members are firing back in return.

Never-Trump Democrats. On the other side of the aisle are some Democrats who appear determined not to cooperate with Mr. Trump on anything. The precise number is hard to tell, but Sen. Bernie Sanders often gives voice to the feelings of such Democrats; on Friday he defended Trump voters while calling the president a “fraud.” Intense anti-Trump feelings at the Democratic grass roots are fueling such inclinations. Republicans are pointing to a speech last week by new party Chairman Tom Perez in which he told a rally that Democratic protesters feel Mr. Trump “didn’t win this election.”

Maybe-Sometimes-Trump Democrats. These are moderate to conservative Democrats, many from states the president won, who are willing to work with the Trump administration on selected issues. Sens. Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Joe Donnelly of Indiana, for example, have said they would back Judge Gorsuch for the Supreme Court, while a big majority of their colleagues go the other way. The chances of such Democrats working with the White House are “completely dependent on what the issue is,” says Ms. Heitkamp. “The question is whether the well is too poisoned to get anything done. I think the answer to that is no.”

In fact, the Senate’s combination of governing Republicans and Democrats willing to work with them form the likeliest path to legislative achievement amid a tribal Washington. Democratic Sens. Heitkamp, Manchin, Mark Warner and Claire McCaskill, and Republicans Bob Corker, John McCain, Rob Portman and Lamar Alexander—they are the kinds of people who hold the key. It may be impossible for them to prevent a standoff over a Supreme Court nominee, but a tax overhaul looms as the next big test.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-new-tribalism-spreads-in-donald-trumps-washington-1491229525

[BlueMTexpat]

1. I urge EVERYONE here on

DU to contact all THREE Democrats in the Maybe-Sometimes-Trump Democrats by telephone AND email - as often as is necessary. If you've already done so, please do it AGAIN.

Please remind them that, whether we are their constituents or not, as US Senators, they have an obligation to represent ALL people in the US. Please also remind them that nearly THREE MILLION MORE of us voted for Hillary Clinton than voted for DJT.

Please also let them know that we will ALL be watching what they do and that we will consider their support of Gorsuch as a betrayal.

Please be courteous but firm.