In 9 of 10 races, the Republican Senate candidate is running
ahead of Trump, by an average of 5.5 points. In five of those states, Trump is
losing, while the Republican Senate candidate is ahead. In one other, the Senate
race is a virtual tossup, while Trump is losing handily.
What to make of this? I have two conclusions
First: Conservatism
is alive and well. Trump’s current poll deficit, should it hold, should not
be read as “a crisis for the Republican party”. Nor should it be considered a
crisis for the conservative movement. In fact, most of these Republican Senate
candidates are more conservative than
Trump! Trump’s problems are Trump’s alone.
Second: Conservatives
should focus their energies on down ballot races. As the numbers show,
there are a number of Senate races that will go down to the wire. I’m not arguing
the Presidential race is necessarily decided—a lot can happen between now and Election
Day. But I am suggesting that if we want to hold Hillary Clinton in check as
President—and I would argue we need to hold Donald Trump in check just as much—these
Senate races are critical.
If we want to ensure conservative justices on the Supreme
Court, the Senate is where that action will happen. If we want to repeal
Obamacare, controlling Congress is essential to that. And if we want
conservative policy victories, it is the down-ballot races—Senate, Congress,
and state houses—that will be most critical to our success.
No comments:
Post a Comment