It appears that some Republicans like Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) are hoping that they can distance themselves from President Donald Trump and/or that he’ll ride off quietly into the sunset.

But what they’re missing in all this is why people support Trump to begin with. Because here was someone finally responding frankly to them who did in fact, govern by putting America and Americans first. He didn’t govern like someone trying to preserve his own power, otherwise he would have made all kinds of concessions in the face of the constant blistering attack on him throughout his presidency. He governed like someone who actually wanted to get things done and indeed he did that, building one heck of a banging economy through tax reform and deregulation. And, with the help of McConnell. getting a raft of more constitutionally oriented judges confirmed. It’s actually amazing that he was able to do what he did with the constant efforts against him, even including within his own admistration from the permanent bureaucratic set.

So perhaps the results of a new poll are not at all surprising. But they are something of which McConnell and the establishment Republicans should take close note.

According to the poll from Suffolk University-USA Today, a huge number of Republicans, 46 percent, would be willing to join a party created by Trump, 27 percent said they’d stay GOP and the rest were undecided, apparently leaving open the possibility they could flee too.

From Townhall:

“We feel like Republicans don’t fight enough for us, and we all see Donald Trump fighting for us as hard as he can, every single day,” said Brandon Keidl, a 27-year-old Republican and small-business owner from Milwaukee. “But then you have establishment Republicans who just agree with establishment Democrats and everything, and they don’t ever push back.”

According to the poll, half of those polled said the Party should become “more loyal to Trump,” even if it meant losing establishment Republicans. Only one in five said the party should become less loyal to Trump and more like establishment Republicans.

That should be a huge alarm bell to folks like McConnell and a solid rejection of the establishment course. You might try to sweep aside Trump, but the people that swept him into power and the reasons they did are still there. You try to move him aside or dismiss those issues, but then you will be dismissed by those voters who have very little faith in the establishment at this point.

Voters aren’t giving those who voted against Trump on impeachment a pass either, with eight in ten Republicans saying that would make them less likely to vote for such a Republican. Many of those Republicans who voted against Trump have been censured back in the home states, showing how disturbed the local people are with their decision. Many voters are also calling for them to be primaried.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) counseled McConnell and Trump to bury their differences and come together for the good of the party. He impressed upon McConnell that “President Trump is the most consequential Republican in the party. If Mitch McConnell doesn’t understand that, he’s missing a lot” and he said that made him very worried about 2022. Graham also praised the job that Trump did as president and told him ,“[Y]ou own the Republican Party, my friend… You are the hope of the future of conservatism.” But that they needed to get back into power in 2022 and 2024. “I believe the Democrats are doing all they can to help us. We just need to help ourselves.”

That’s most certainly correct. But they need to do it by first not bending over as they often do for the Democrats. They need to actually hear what is being said by the people feeling disenfranchised and they need to listen to the greater point that they don’t want McConnell or Graham taking the establishment route, as they often have. They want real action, not just the uni-party typical inaction. What has saved the GOP so far is that the Democrats are so awful, the GOP just had to not be as insane. But when they essentially start taking the same positions, many see no distinction. Stand for the GOP principles that we are all supposed to believe in, hold Democrats accountable. Then you will have that support.