Republicans toiling to re-elect President Trump are freshly optimistic, confident a Democratic Party dominated by ambitious progressives is scaring wayward factions of the conservative coalition back into the fold.
With a midterm election rebuke and disastrous government shutdown in the rear view, Trump’s 2020 campaign team and constellation of key outside supporters are sensing a turnaround. The president hasn’t changed his controversial ways. But Trump’s top lieutenants believe that newly empowered liberal Democrats — in Washington and across the country — plus the sometimes peculiar spectacle of the Democratic primary, are causing uneasy Republicans to reconsider their opposition.
“As the House Democrat caucus is increasingly dominated by extreme left members, and as Democratic presidential candidates work to outmaneuver each other in embracing socialist policies, the choice will become increasingly clear,” Trump campaign spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany said in a statement provided to the Washington Examiner. “Support for the president is already on the rise.”
[Byron York: Dems’ hard-left turn poses dilemma for ‘Never Trumpers’]
Democrats flipped 40 seats in the House of Representatives in November, winning control of the chamber in a direct backlash against Trump. That was followed in late December with a politically ill-fated government shutdown pushed by the president over the Mexican border wall.
Trump’s job approval ratings have since bounced back to an average of around 44 percent, the higher end of the range over his presidency. Some ardent critics have even dropped their opposition to his re-election or said they could be persuaded to vote for him. Republicans are giving the lion’s share of the credit to the Democrats.
In Washington, the Democratic Party activist wing has proposed a “Green New Deal” to overhaul U.S. climate policy, aggressively redistribute wealth via the tax code, and greatly expand government influence over energy usage and transportation. In the states, Democratic-controlled legislatures have moved to ease restrictions on late-term abortions.
On the campaign trail, Democratic presidential contenders are competing for progressives by endorsing these policies and more. Suddenly, Trump looks less problematic to Republicans uncomfortable with his character and belligerent behavior.
“The people who find reasons to be uncomfortable with the president but like the general thrust of his policies are scared as hell that Venezuela is trying to get into the White House,” said Matt Schlapp, a veteran Republican operative and loyal Trump ally who runs the Conservative Political Action Conference. “Look at his foils; they’re all worse.”
That’s the conclusion that previously virulent Trump antagonist Erick Erickson came to. Erickson is a conservative activist and radio talk show host who during the 2016 campaign very publicly disinvited then-candidate Trump to a conference he was hosting.
Liz Mair, a GOP operative who still identifies as “Never Trump” and this week endorsed Republican Bill Weld’s long-shot primary bid to block the president’s re-nomination, conceded there are scenarios under which she would vote for him.
“If they nominate [Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.] and Virginia is right on the line — if Virginia polling was Warren-Trump, 49 percent to 49 percent, I would vote for Donald Trump. I would do that,” said Mair, who is a Virginia resident. “If it were [Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.], I definitely would do that.”
Sanders calls himself as a socialist, a label no longer verboten in the Democratic Party. Warren is a liberal populist but has embraced much of Sanders’ socialist agenda.
Trump’s overall approval numbers with self-identified Republicans are historically high. His support among the GOP base is rock solid.
But the president’s relationship with critical elements of the traditional wing of the Republican Party is less secure. These voters were a crucial part of the coalition that helped put him over the top in key battlegrounds.
Trump’s allies don’t appear that worried. They expect the Democratic primary to produce a nominee unpalatable for this group.
The “hard left” is “not where broader electorate is, and that’s going to be an asset for the president,” said Brian Walsh, head of America First Policies and America First Action, Trump’s designated outside political groups.
