Jonathan Rauch in Lawfare writes on Republicans' continued devotion to President Donald Trump:
"Perhaps there are limits to Republicans' tolerance, but if Trump hasn't already triggered them, it is hard to imagine where they are. The firing of a special prosecutor? An indictment? Possibly, but one wonders if it might be literally true that Trump could, as he once boasted, shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and retain Republican support.
"The numbers support no predictions, but they offer a hint. Even under a worst-case scenario of presidential malfeasance, removing Trump would be no easy or quick task. It would require a sea-change in Republican partisans' attitude, a change of which there is no sign today. And it would require Republican leaders to take political risks that few have shown any appetite for."
GOP defeats in 2018 might give the Democrats the majority in the House, expediting impeachment, but removing Trump would require a vote of two-thirds of the Senate. Without substantial GOP defections, Trump will be there for the remainder of his four-year term.
Could Trump be forced to resign if, for example, the choice was between resignation and being held in contempt of court for refusal to turn over financial records? Perhaps, but it's far from clear that such a standoff would occur. If it did, Trump and his fleet of lawyers could certainly delay and appeal, in essence running out the clock on his presidency.
Whether in 2020 or before, the only surefire means to protect the country from Trump is to defeat his followers, and eventually him. A third-party candidate, as my colleague Michael Gerson recognizes, could throw the race to the Democrat. My reaction to that possibility is: So? We've made the case here and been proved correct that Trump's flaws as a human being and president surpass matters of policy and put the republic at risk.
While it is true that a primary has never defeated a sitting president in more than 100 years (Lyndon Johnson chose not to run in 1968, Jimmy Carter beat back Ted Kennedy and Gerald Ford held off Ronald Reagan), Trump is helping to rewrite the political playbook. An anti-Trump Republican unsullied by sycophancy and presenting a credible program for uniting the country and addressing policy problems that have befuddled Trump would have a historic opportunity.
In the short term, the most effective way of removing Trump is to defeat again and again lawmakers who refuse to remove him, thereby advancing the prospects for impeachment and putting optimum pressure on Republican senators. (Republicans pledging to vote for impeachment or removal in the Senate based on the facts available at the time might spare themselves.)
With Georgia's special election Tuesday in the 6th Congressional District, we'll get our first inkling of just how vulnerable Republicans might be in 2018. Between now and 2018, Democrats, independents and the small cadre of #NeverTrump Republicans need to pursue two tracks simultaneously keeping the special counselor in place (and assisting in the fact-finding process with open hearings, when possible) and generating momentum to defeat the greatest possible number of Trump protectors. That might entail fielding third-party candidates and primary challenges. Democrats certainly will need to keep their base energized, field an all-star list of candidates and make the case against the extreme Trump agenda while presenting reasonable alternatives of their own.
The only real guarantee, you see, of reversing the debacle of 2016 is to defeat Trump and his minions at the polls. The solution to democracy gone astray is always more democracy.
Jennifer Rubin writes the Right Turn blog for The Post, offering reported opinion from a conservative perspective.
RELATED ARTICLES:
Republicans, beware. The tables will turn.
My application to replace Sean Spicer
Trump's voters were more motivated by nationalism than economic hardship
If Republicans lose the House, Trump will be impeached
More:
To stop Donald Trump, defeat the Republicans who enable him - Chicago Tribune
- Donald Trump Returns to Capitol Hill for First Time Since Jan. 6 Riot - The Wall Street Journal - June 13th, 2024 [June 13th, 2024]
- Opinion: Donald Trump's advice on drinking and drugs is 'Don't start.' So what's wrong with that? - Yahoo! Voices - June 13th, 2024 [June 13th, 2024]
- Jeffrey Katzenberg Is Bidens Secret Weapon Against Trump - The New York Times - June 13th, 2024 [June 13th, 2024]
- Behind Closed Doors, Trump Disparages Milwaukee, Host of His Party's Convention - The New York Times - June 13th, 2024 [June 13th, 2024]
- Trump's Campaign Was Just a Scammy Money Grab All Along - The New Republic - June 13th, 2024 [June 13th, 2024]
- Opinion | The American flag isnt another Trump property. Time to reclaim it. - The Washington Post - June 13th, 2024 [June 13th, 2024]
- Republicans host 'pep rally' with Trump in his first visit to Capitol Hill since Jan. 6 attack - NBC News - June 13th, 2024 [June 13th, 2024]
- Trump met with GOP lawmakers in Washington to rally support, push for unity - NPR - June 13th, 2024 [June 13th, 2024]
- A second Trump term: from unthinkable to probable - The Economist - June 13th, 2024 [June 13th, 2024]
- Donald Trump on Capitol Hill for first time since Jan 6 riot - BBC.com - June 13th, 2024 [June 13th, 2024]
- Elections 2024 live updates: Trump touts 'tremendous unity' after GOP meetings on Hill - The Washington Post - June 13th, 2024 [June 13th, 2024]
- Who Is Favored To Win The 2024 Presidential Election? - FiveThirtyEight - June 13th, 2024 [June 13th, 2024]
- Trump slams Justice Department in meeting with congressional Republicans - The Washington Post - June 13th, 2024 [June 13th, 2024]
- Bitcoin miners at Donald Trump's closed-door event say he thinks bitcoin can help win AI arms race - CNBC - June 13th, 2024 [June 13th, 2024]
- The problem with Donald Trump's advice on drugs and alcohol - Los Angeles Times - June 13th, 2024 [June 13th, 2024]
- Trump Returns to Washington With Renewed Grip on the G.O.P. - The New York Times - June 13th, 2024 [June 13th, 2024]
- Opinion | J.D. Vance on Where Hed Take the Republican Party - The New York Times - June 13th, 2024 [June 13th, 2024]
- How Donald Trump's criminal conviction boosted his campaign fundraising machine - CNBC - June 13th, 2024 [June 13th, 2024]
- Donald Trump's Message to Milwaukee - The Atlantic - June 13th, 2024 [June 13th, 2024]
- Donald Trump Reportedly Questions Taylor Swifts Support for Joe Biden in Meeting With House Republicans: Why Would She Endorse This Dope? - Variety - June 13th, 2024 [June 13th, 2024]
- How One Move Illustrates Trump's Tactics - The New York Times - June 13th, 2024 [June 13th, 2024]
- Donald Trump Pulls Off Shock Lead in State GOP Has Not Won in 36 Years - Newsweek - June 13th, 2024 [June 13th, 2024]
- Donald Trump's 'Unhinged' Email Has Critics Asking: 'Is He Out Of Control?' - Yahoo! Voices - June 13th, 2024 [June 13th, 2024]
- JB Pritzker, the Democrat Who Isnt Afraid to Call Trump a Felon - The New York Times - June 13th, 2024 [June 13th, 2024]
- Opinion | In calling out Trump, Harris finds her mission - The Washington Post - June 13th, 2024 [June 13th, 2024]
- A Brief History of the Phrase 'No One Is Above the Law' - The New York Times - June 13th, 2024 [June 13th, 2024]
- Donald Trump Jr. moves to be MAGA's new kingmaker - Axios - June 13th, 2024 [June 13th, 2024]
- Opinion | Media should stop calling Donald Trump a 'felon' - The Washington Post - The Washington Post - June 6th, 2024 [June 6th, 2024]
- Donald Trump tries to court pivotal 2024 voters after guilty verdict - USA TODAY - June 6th, 2024 [June 6th, 2024]
- Opinion | Trump has been convicted, but maybe hold the champagne - The Washington Post - June 6th, 2024 [June 6th, 2024]
- Democratic, GOP strategists on problems Biden and Trump face with undecided voters - PBS NewsHour - June 6th, 2024 [June 6th, 2024]
- Trump's New York gun permit to be revoked following conviction: Sources - ABC News - June 6th, 2024 [June 6th, 2024]
- Trump asks to have gag order lifted in New York criminal trial - CBS News - June 6th, 2024 [June 6th, 2024]
- Donald Trump Is Plotting His Next Crime - Democracy Docket - June 6th, 2024 [June 6th, 2024]
- Trump Gets a Fund-Raiser in Silicon Valley - The New York Times - June 6th, 2024 [June 6th, 2024]
- Donald Trump: Unless there is a death penalty for drug dealers, you will never solve the problem - Fox News - June 6th, 2024 [June 6th, 2024]
- DNC to unveil new billboard calling Trump a "convicted felon" - CBS News - June 6th, 2024 [June 6th, 2024]
- Trump's Vows to Prosecute Rivals Put Rule of Law on the Ballot - The New York Times - June 6th, 2024 [June 6th, 2024]
- Will the Supreme Court nullify Trump's conviction? - Vox.com - June 6th, 2024 [June 6th, 2024]
- What's next for Donald Trump after hush money conviction - The Associated Press - June 6th, 2024 [June 6th, 2024]
- Is Donald Trump Really a Male Icon? I Hope to God Not. - The Nation - June 6th, 2024 [June 6th, 2024]
- Opinion | Trump Is Blocking Out the Sun: Three Writers on the Politics of the Guilty Verdict - The New York Times - June 6th, 2024 [June 6th, 2024]
- Looming over Trump's conviction: reversal by the '13th juror' - POLITICO - June 6th, 2024 [June 6th, 2024]
- Both Sides of a Breakup: He Didn't Think Trump Was So Bad - The Cut - June 6th, 2024 [June 6th, 2024]
- Trump asks judge to lift gag order in hush money case after guilty verdict - Axios - June 6th, 2024 [June 6th, 2024]
- Court Delays Trump's Georgia Case, and U.N. Warns of 'Climate Hell' - The New York Times - June 6th, 2024 [June 6th, 2024]
- Republican Election Clerk Takes on Trump and His Supporters - The New York Times - June 6th, 2024 [June 6th, 2024]
- Trump surrogate Byron Donalds hearkens back to Jim Crow era when 'the Black family was together' - NBC News - June 6th, 2024 [June 6th, 2024]
- Donald Trump to speak at private CEOs meeting, weeks after conviction - CNBC - June 6th, 2024 [June 6th, 2024]
- Trump's conviction prompts election-year debate among Democrats: How much to focus on the verdict? - The Associated Press - June 6th, 2024 [June 6th, 2024]
- Georgia appeals court temporarily halts Trump's 2020 election case in Fulton County - CBS News - June 6th, 2024 [June 6th, 2024]
- Suddenly Trump's got nothing to say about Hunter Biden - POLITICO - June 6th, 2024 [June 6th, 2024]
- 'Donald Trump Did This': How to Beat MAGA on Border Security - The Bulwark - April 29th, 2024 [April 29th, 2024]
- Potential Trump running mate JD Vance and Donald Trump Jr. have become so close that they text or talk on a 'nearly ... - Business Insider - April 29th, 2024 [April 29th, 2024]
- Trump Second Term: How the World and U.S. Allies Can Prepare for the Election - Foreign Policy - April 29th, 2024 [April 29th, 2024]
- Poll: Biden and Trump supporters sharply divided by the media they consume - NBC News - April 29th, 2024 [April 29th, 2024]
- Master Calendar of Trump Court Dates: Criminal and Civil Cases - Just Security - April 29th, 2024 [April 29th, 2024]
- Donald Trump's Sleepy, Sleazy Criminal Trial - The New Yorker - April 29th, 2024 [April 29th, 2024]
- Trump, GOP seize on campus protests to depict chaos under Biden - The Washington Post - April 29th, 2024 [April 29th, 2024]
- UK briefing: How Donald Trump plans to survive hush money trial with his campaign intact newsletter - The Guardian - April 29th, 2024 [April 29th, 2024]
- Opinion | We Are Talking About the Manhattan Case Against Trump All Wrong - The New York Times - April 29th, 2024 [April 29th, 2024]
- Election 2024: Biden jokes, Trump still leads and updates from the Sunday shows. - The New York Times - April 29th, 2024 [April 29th, 2024]
- Donald Trump Pans White House Correspondents' Dinner: 'Colin Jost BOMBED' - The Daily Beast - April 29th, 2024 [April 29th, 2024]
- Trump's Trial Could Bring a Rarity: Consequences for His Words - The New York Times - April 29th, 2024 [April 29th, 2024]
- Donald Trump Bemoans Really Bad WHCD, Biden & Colin Jost After All Mock Much Indicted Ex-POTUS - Deadline - April 29th, 2024 [April 29th, 2024]
- The Supreme Court's epic failure in dealing with Trump's cases - The Hill - April 29th, 2024 [April 29th, 2024]
- Donald Trump: In America's most important swing state, a key Biden group wants to hand the presidency to Trump. - Slate - April 29th, 2024 [April 29th, 2024]
- Donald Trump Is Being Ritually Humiliated in Court - The New Yorker - April 29th, 2024 [April 29th, 2024]
- Joe Biden trails Donald Trump in new national poll on 2024 election - USA TODAY - April 29th, 2024 [April 29th, 2024]
- Amid Cases on Abortion and Trump, Roberts Reflects on Supreme Court's Work - The New York Times - April 29th, 2024 [April 29th, 2024]
- Donald Trump Is Used to the Finer Things in Life. At the Courthouse, 'He's Miserable.' - The Wall Street Journal - April 29th, 2024 [April 29th, 2024]
- How Trumps Rhetoric at Rallies Has Escalated - The New York Times - April 29th, 2024 [April 29th, 2024]
- The Supreme Court Appears Poised to Protect the Presidencyand Donald Trump - The New Yorker - April 29th, 2024 [April 29th, 2024]
- The Supreme Court seems divided over Donald Trump's immunity - The Economist - April 29th, 2024 [April 29th, 2024]
- John Dean Says 1 Thing 'Keeping Me On The Edge Of My Seat' In Trump Trial - Yahoo! Voices - April 29th, 2024 [April 29th, 2024]
- Five Moments That Have Defined Donald Trump's Trial So Far - The New York Times - April 29th, 2024 [April 29th, 2024]
- How Trumps trial is playing, politically - The Washington Post - April 29th, 2024 [April 29th, 2024]
- Opinion | The Ukraine aid vote helps, but U.S. allies complacency would be unwise - The Washington Post - April 29th, 2024 [April 29th, 2024]
- Hey, SCOTUS your hypocrisy is showing - The Hill - April 29th, 2024 [April 29th, 2024]
- Bill Barr Is Happy to Debase Himself for Donald Trump Again Mother Jones - Mother Jones - April 29th, 2024 [April 29th, 2024]