For moderate Republicans who vowed never to support former President Donald Trump, seeing President Biden unfit for another term is more than a little unsettling. As Biden struggles to salvage his reelection chances, I asked my Post Opinion colleagues Jim Geraghty and Megan McArdle. What should Never-Trumpists make of this moment?
James Homan: I’ve heard a lot about double-doubters and double-haters, and I have a feeling they will decide the outcome of this election. Could a Democratic nominating process that includes an open convention give them a more attractive option?
Jim Geraghty: This is a dark, perhaps devastating moment in public life, fueled by the majority of Republicans who want Trump to run for office a third time and by a nearly 82-year-old man who should be wiser but is blinded by his own ego and his inner circle.
Megan McArdle: I have long since given up on voting for Biden, as I did in 2020, not because I like the Democratic platform (I don’t), but because Biden is better than a mercurial, impulsive narcissist with a disdain for policy detail and zero respect for institutional constraints. At this point, I worry that the Democrats will show they’re not that good either.
Gym: Two rank-and-file Democrats, without the influence of Biden or VP Harris, could probably beat Trump handily — think Amy Klobuchar, Cory Booker, Michael Bennet and Andy Beshear — but holding an open convention would be nearly impossible unless Biden had a change of heart.
James: It will be interesting to see how many House and Senate Democrats are willing to publicly air their concerns this week — unlike Trump, they are far less worried about the consequences of defying Biden — but most want to be team players.
Gym: Yes, the urge to protect the “big boys” and ignore critics of party leaders is not unique to Republicans.
James: Biden has appeared to resemble Trump in parts of his sweeping tour: his defiant attitude, his denial of reality and the polls, his boasting about attendance figures and his efforts to frame criticism of him as attacks on his supporters.
Gym: If not Biden, it’s almost certainly Harris, who, as I wrote last week, is, at least nominally, the less risky choice.
Megan: I agree, because she’s more likely to be perfectly sane and take command in a strategic crisis. But as a candidate she’s a mixed blessing. Democratic primary voters, even in her own hometown, didn’t support her, and rank-and-file voters to her right are even less likely to be impressed.
James: So what do you think the outcome of the election will ultimately be, or do you think it’s already been decided?
Megan: I think it would be very difficult to launch a whole new campaign in a few months. The main advantage of changing the candidate is that conservatives would have less power to oppose the person (unless that person is Harris). The disadvantage is that voters would not know the candidate and the campaign would likely get ugly.
Gym: The best-case scenario for Democrats might be that Trump’s current momentum makes him seem more confident, more angry and more deranged — so that enough “blue wall” voters say, “Oh no, we can’t go through that again.”
James: Do you think the Never Trump crowd sees through Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s intentions? Apparently he initially wanted to appeal to Kennedy Democrats, but he’s completely lost his mind.
Megan: I don’t think RFK is appealing to Never-Trumpers at all, he’s like Trump but less selfish and more crazy.
Gym: I agree. Never-Trumpers (generally) want things to go back to “normal” – pre-Trump, maybe pre-Obama. RFK is the “everything stinks, everyone lies, burn the whole system down” candidate.
James: So that brings us back to the question of what should Never Trumpers do? We’ll just have to wait and see. There are about 120 days until the election.
Megan: I will still reluctantly vote for Biden. But I don’t blame anyone who decides they can’t vote for a president whose cognitive decline is so obvious they could trigger a 25th Amendment crisis. We don’t have a candidate. That’s not surprising, since the smallest quadrant of American politics is populated by Never-Trump conservatives and libertarians.
Gym: I would tell people that it’s entirely legitimate to conclude that none of the presidential candidates deserve or have earned your vote. As Ted Cruz said at the 2016 Republican Convention, “Vote your conscience.” Of course, Cruz caved in a while later. 😝
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Several prominent Never Trumpers have pressured Biden to step down, The Dispatch reports:
The list of attendees at the Washington rally includes former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele, lawyer George Conway, veteran GOP activist Mike Murphy, commentators Bill Kristol and Charlie Sykes, and strategist Sarah Longwell. In recent days, several of these Never-Trumpers have publicly called on Biden to withdraw from the race or consider withdrawing. … These commentators and activists have taken professional risks to back the Democratic president. It is no small development that they are now urging him to step aside.”
Can you blame them? The fear of a Trump comeback is powerful. Ben Terris of the Washington Post has noticed a strange “PTSD” among anti-Trump voters. He describes it this way:
The disease has an unusual symptom: it has led some critics of the former president to believe that bad things that happen to Trump might end up being good for him. It’s a common concern among liberals and Never-Trumpers who have watched many events supposedly damaging or disqualifying Trump come and go over the years. “Grab them by their genitals.” “Fine people on both sides.” First impeachment. Election loss. Election lies. Insurrection. Second impeachment. Criminal charges. Civil lawsuits. Scathing criticism from former aides and advisers. Ominous rhetoric about “evil” Democrats, left-wing “vermin,” and political “retribution.” And yet Trump has endured.
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