RACE TO WHITE HOUSE - A CLEAN SWEEP FOR DEMOCRATS ON CARDS?

RACE TO WHITE HOUSE - A clean sweep for Democrats on cards?

Republican Stalwarts Fear Trump Will Destroy Party, Hand Over Both White House And Congress To Rivals

Donald Trump has become the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 for the Republican Party in the US with just one difference -there is no recall and replacement option.

The Grand Old Party has to live with its decision to nominate the maverick New Yorker as its presidential candidate even as he implodes, and the party faces the ire of Trump loyalists who believe a shake-up is good and he is the future of the party . Party stalwarts believe he will destroy the GOP and hand over the Washington power troika of White House, the House of Representatives, and the Senate to the Democrats.

On Tuesday , Trump contemptuously disdained GOP grandees having second thoughts about supporting him, saying he did not need their backing, and they would in fact be risking a loss on the Congressional elections that take place concurrently with the presidential poll.

With 247 seats in the 535member House of Representatives and 54 seats in the 100member Senate, this Congress began with the largest Republican majority since 1929­1931 in a system that takes pride in balance of power, and seldom gives full authority to one party.

The delicate balance is now in danger following the schism over Trump. While there was always a danger of Republicans losing control of the Senate because several of the onethird (34) seats that are going to the polls are considered vulnerable, their House majority was considered impregnable.

Not any more. Which is why House Speaker Paul Ryan and a section of the GOP has decided to jettison support for Trump while trying to preserve the party's Congressional ma jority, essentially to concentrate their resources on Congressional races instead of spreading it to the Presidential election too.

But Trump's scorched earth policy could destroy the party that traces its vintage to Abraham Lincoln. “It is so nice that the shackles have been taken off me and I can now fight for America the way I want to,“ Trump tweeted on Tuesday , indicating that he is ready to dump the GOP as much as it was ready to disown him. “Disloyal R's (Republicans) are far more difficult than Crooked Hillary . They come at you from all sides. They don't know how to win -I will teach them!“ he added. Trump had particularly harsh words for Senator John McCain, a respected GOP veter an who was the party's Presi dential nomi nee in 2008. “The very foul mouthed Sen John McCain begged for my support during his primary (I gave, he won), then dropped me over locker room remarks!“ McCain is up for re-election to the Senate from Arizona, and his contest will be a test of whether a candidate can win on a GOP ticket and his own record without Trump's backing.

Trump loyalists are now casting the GOP veterans as out-of-touch elites who may have to be purged from the party regardless of the election results. “The establishment wing of the party could simply be amputated out in this effort that's going on right now,“ said Iowa Republican Steve King, a Trump supporter. Trump himself has indicated that he will move to replace Paul Ryan as House Speaker if he (Trump) wins the White House.

Liberals, including President Obama, are gloating about the growing chasm in the GOP because it could presage years, even decades, of Democratic dominance and allow them to institute both their personnel and agenda, including in the US Supreme Court. A sweep for the Democrats will forever change America in areas ranging from healthcare to immigration, effectively sealing an Obama legacy of a diverse, plural, multi-ethnic, multi-cultural America that has thrown off white domination.

Obama himself sees the is sues at stake and has jumped into the election campaign with a gusto that has no precedent among lame duck presidents. Ridiculing anti-Trump Republicans for distancing themselves from the Presidential candidate while still not withdrawing their endorsement, Obama taunted them at rally on Tuesday , saying, “What did you think? He was just gonna transform himself ?

I mean, I'm 55. It's hard for me to change. I know at 70 it's gonna be harder.“

(toi)