People can talk all they want about Donald Trump and how he’s a “disruptor” and a “vehicle for change” in the Swampy Swampland of DC. They can point to judicial appointments, removing regulations, the tax cut and that he “fights back” against the media.
Terrific. That doesn’t, however, take away the taint that comes from Donald Trump. It does nothing to quell the obvious: Trump makes conservatism unpalatable to people who are not conservatives. People point to all of what he managed to get done thus far, yet a glance at his approval ratings show an average of a pathetic 42 percent in the RCP average. Many Republicans, particularly in the House, have seen the writing on the wall. They see Democrats winning back control of the House, and they’re jumping ship.
Who can blame them?
Paul Ryan, Jeb Hensarling, Bob Goodlatte, Trey Gowdy, Lynn Jenkins, Tom Rooney and others are all solid conservatives. I am sure they hoped they’d get some things done despite Trump not possessing the leadership and negotiating skills available to pull it off. Trump bragged about his ability to make deals, but his dealmaking consists of getting people in a room and saying out loud what he thinks people around the table want to hear. However, when it comes to putting pen to paper to hammer something out, Trump is nowhere to be found because he has no tolerance for such details. He doesn’t want to be bothered.
Republicans who thought Trump might be an ally to get agenda items passed, have instead had to resort to answering questions on a daily basis about Trump’s Mueller fulminations. Trump bears the blame for the damned investigation. He fired Jim Comey because Comey wouldn’t go public and say the FBI was not investigating Trump. That led to the appointment of Mueller. Trump has nobody to blame but himself for the fiasco.
So for the last 4-5 months, people like Paul Ryan have had to spend their time answering questions about Trump’s Twitter tirades instead of legislation they’d be hammering out. They continue to watch Trump dig himself a deeper hole every day with the Mueller investigation. His administration is a rotating door with people coming and going like the lunch crowd at a New York City diner. He spends more time watching television than getting up to speed on any legislative agenda and when things aren’t going his way, he lashes out, not only at Democrats but fellow Republican as well.
Make no mistake. Republicans in the House are getting out because they see at least six years of “Speaker Nancy Pelosi” or some other Democrat. It was hard enough for them to get things done with President Ignoramus holding a GOP majority in both chambers of Congress. What will he possibly do when he has to get whatever plans he has through a Democratic House Majority?
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