How Trump & Cruz Will Cost House Republican Seats
“Restless, Exasperated, Impatient”: not just descriptions of the electorate that has given rise to Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump, and Tea Party darling Ted Cruz. These are adjectives from one morning’s worth of headlines describing the panic of Washington D.C. Republicans – including House Republican leadership – about the rise of Trump and Cruz, and their impact on the party’s chances up and down the ballot in 2016.
Even if neither Trump nor Cruz is the ultimate nominee, it is clear that the entire Republican brand has been impacted irreparably by Trump and Cruz’s magnetic pull to the extreme right.
On Capitol Hill, what began as behind-closed-doors consternation has spilled out into the open; there hasn’t been this much House Republican handwringing since the last time it rained on a Seersucker Thursday. With less than a week to go until the Iowa Caucus, Charlie Cook notes that House Republicans are “genuinely frightened” by the very real possibility that their party nominates Donald Trump or Ted Cruz for president, instigating a possible “down-ballot apocalypse.”
Fueling the fear is Speaker Ryan’s and NRCC Chairman Greg Walden’s own polling, which shows that even if establishment Republicans are successful in toppling Trump, the heir apparent, Senator Cruz, would be even worse for their electoral chances in November. According to POLITICO, the House GOP’s polling indicates that Senator Cruz would be the biggest drag on House Republicans down ticket, but even still, “a plurality of respondents — 48 percent to 40 percent — would be less likely to vote for a Republican congressional candidate or incumbent if Trump were the nominee.”
Read the full report here.
