IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Just a day after the Washington Post highlighted how imperiled House Republicans (including Erik Paulsen) are coming up with epically nonsensical answers about whether they’ll vote for Trump, MinnPost’s Sam Brodey takes a look at Paulsen’s blatant political calculus.
“Erik Paulsen’s finger-in-the-wind method may be prompting him to do a ‘slow walk away’ from Donald Trump, but Paulsen will never be able to run from his and Trump’s identical anti-choice, pro-gun, and anti-LGBT rights positions,” said Sacha Haworth of the DCCC.
Key Sections:
“Back when the conventional wisdom was that Trump would crash and burn, Paulsen — who officially backed Rubio — said repeatedly that he “expected” to support the GOP nominee.
“Over the summer, as Trump picked fights with the family of a slain Muslim-American war hero and a Mexican-American federal judge, and found himself trailing in most polls, Paulsen undid his plans to vote for the nominee.
“[…] At a campaign event in Minnesota last week, Paulsen said that Trump does not yet have his support.
“By using elastic language like “plan” and “expect” from the get-go, Paulsen gave himself the wiggle room to distance himself from Trump if necessary, and he now appears to be taking advantage of it.”
MinnPost: The big decision for Republican congressional candidates in Minnesota? How to talk about Trump
MinnPost
Paulsen: A slow walk away from Trump
[…] Paulsen is, dispositionally, deeply averse to controversy, and he now faces his first real re-election fight. Since last summer, the Eden Prairie Republican has expressed skepticism about Trump, but he has been inconsistent on whether he’d support him.
Back when the conventional wisdom was that Trump would crash and burn, Paulsen — who officially backed Rubio — said repeatedly that he “expected” to support the GOP nominee, always adding that he expected that person would be Rubio.
[…] In April, as Trump continued picking up wins and his remaining challengers flagged, Paulsen told MinnPost he still “expect[ed] to support the nominee.”
After Trump amassed enough delegates to secure the nomination, Paulsen in May affirmed he was “still planning on voting for the nominee,” but peppered that with a qualifier. “I’ve not hesitated in going a different direction than he is,” he said.
Over the summer, as Trump picked fights with the family of a slain Muslim-American war hero and a Mexican-American federal judge, and found himself trailing in most polls, Paulsen undid his plans to vote for the nominee.
At a campaign event in Minnesota last week, Paulsen said that Trump does not yet have his support. “My vote needs to be earned,” he said, “and it has not been earned.”
[…] By using elastic language like “plan” and “expect” from the get-go, Paulsen gave himself the wiggle room to distance himself from Trump if necessary, and he now appears to be taking advantage of it.