Shunning Trump isn’t the answer for Republicans

Virginia’s gubernatorial election has some Republicans panicking.

Many hoped Ed Gillespie’s attempt to exploit concerns about illegal immigration without fully embracing President Trump would prove a formula for victory. But Gillespie’s resounding defeat caused some Republicans to chide him for running as “Trump-Lite,” while also earning him a contemptuous tweet from the president, who claimed it was the balancing act — rather than a full-fledged embrace of Trumpism — that ensured the Democrats’ triumph.

Trump’s analysis notwithstanding, we know animus for the president helped drive Democratic turnout. Although Virginia is trending from purple to blue, the Democrats’ first real win since he took office encourages them to believe 2018 will be the next step toward retaking power.

Where does that leave Republicans tied to a president with record low approval ratings and congressional majorities that can’t get out of their own way?

The answer from the president’s base is to do as the man says: Declare undivided loyalty to the White House even as it continues to show little aptitude for governing and is dogged by the Russia investigation and a hostile media that hopes to see Trump impeached.

Never-Trump Republicans, including former President George W. Bush and Sens. Jeff Flake and Bob Corker, echoed by a number of prominent conservative columnists, have a different idea. They seem to suggest the GOP path to salvation is to disavow Trump and thus reclaim their honor and the party the president and the voters hijacked in 2016.

The Virginia loss will likely encourage this latter group to step up their criticisms of the president. But what is the point of such moral preening?

Umbrage about Trump’s shortcomings isn’t a substitute for a political agenda. The only alternative to Trump is Democratic rule. The midterms won’t be so much a referendum on his manners and tweets as it will be on an effort to overthrow the most conservative government in recent memory.

The Democrats lack new ideas — that is, other than the repacked program of big government and vastly expanded entitlements Hillary Clinton tried to sell to the country last year. The factor that motivates their voters is hate for Trump. Should they regain control of the House next year, Democrats will push for impeachment even if the Mueller probe fails — as is likely — to provide proof that Trump is guilty of anything other than being Donald Trump.

The focus of the “resistance” — whether coming from Democrats or queasy Republicans — is to relitigate and delegitimize the 2016 presidential election. Even if you’re appalled by Trump, that ought to offend anyone who cares about the Constitution and the rule of law. Such an effort will also be a push to scuttle any chance the president and his party can accomplish their policy agenda and not merely an expression of dismay about Trump’s flaws.

That means Republicans’ only rational path forward is to forget about ditching Trump and get their own act together in the House and Senate.

Like Gillespie, who probably never had a real shot at victory, they should be willing to speak up about illegal immigration and other wedge issues while also not becoming mini-Trumps.

But they were elected to advance conservative goals like repealing and replacing ObamaCare and enacting tax reform that will promote economic growth. That, and not feuding with the White House, must be their only focus.

Doing so will require some hard work and growing up on the president’s part, too. But if congressional Republicans can put aside their intra-party feuds and resentment toward Trump, they can still present midterm voters with a record of accomplishment that will give them a fighting chance.

Trump’s unpredictable nature and the Mueller factor may ultimately undo their efforts. But it’s time for the GOP to stop blaming the voters or Trump for their troubles. If they wish to avoid a battle over a virtual coup via impeachment in 2019 that’ll ensure an eventual return to liberal government, Republicans need to stop whining and get to work.

Jonathan S. Tobin is opinion editor of JNS.org and a contributing writer for National Review.

Twitter: @jonathans_tobin