Republican Insiders Reportedly Warn Of Potential ‘Disaster’ In November
According to a Thursday report from The Hill, some Republican Party insiders are issuing warnings about a potential “disaster” in November.
Democrats already have a relatively strong majority in the House of Representatives and seem on track to gain more seats, given that 27 GOP lawmakers are set to retire this year.
The Republican National Committee, meanwhile, appears to be focused on defending the Senate majority and helping President Donald Trump win reelection.
For months, Trump has been trailing Joe Biden, the Democratic Party’s presumptive presidential nominee, in both national and swing-state polls.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has reportedly become so concerned about his party’s electoral prospects that he has allowed vulnerable incumbents to “do whatever it takes” to keep their seats.
As one Republican put it, “If the election were today, we would lose the House, the Senate and the White House.”
The coronavirus pandemic is all but certain to be the defining issue of the upcoming elections. For Trump, this could be bad news, given that voters do not seem to be happy with his handling of the federal government’s response to the virus.
“People are looking for reassurance… Chaos worked great in 2016, [but] they don’t want it in 2020,” a GOP congressman said, adding that “there needs to be more FDR fireside chats and less Jerry Springer knockdown.”
Some Republicans fear that Trump’s rhetoric amid the unprecedented public health crisis is alienating suburban women, who are considered to be a key voting bloc.
“Conservative women want to see empathy and compassion and don’t like meanness. We are doing really poorly with married, white women,” an insider explained, adding that Trump’s recent attack on Deborah Birx, a leading member of the coronavirus task force, further hurt his standing among suburbanites.
In addition, Trump seems to have lost ground among senior citizens, many of whom backed him in 2016. The commander-in-chief has repeatedly railed against mail-in voting, which many older Americans rely on. With COVID-19 still looming large, the percentage of those voting by mail is expected to be higher than four years ago.
Trump appears to have taken note of this as well. Earlier this week, the commander-in-chief seemingly reversed his position on vote-by-mail urging his supporters in the state of Florida to participate in the program.
Amid ongoing protests against police brutality — which erupted after the death of George Floyd — race relations are all but guaranteed to be a major issue in the upcoming election.
According to one GOP lawmaker, Trump needs to “show compassion” in order to win reelection.
“It’s all about COVID and race [relations], and that’s all just personality and managing it. [Trump’s] got to show compassion and he’ll be all right. That’s the challenge — all those are changeable,” the lawmaker said.
