#NeverTrump GOP endorsements LATEST: Graham and Lee voted McMullin

[Mr. Morden]

Tom Kean says he's undecided, but says there's a good chance he won't vote for anyone for president:

http://www.northjersey.com/news/kelly-n-j-gop-icon-tom-kean-to-skip-convention-1.1629137

You must be logged in to read this quote.

[Mr. Morden]

Politico has a story about all the “neocons” who have vowed not to back Trump in the general election:

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/03/trump-clinton-neoconservatives-220151

Bill Kristol has already talked about the fact that he’d back a 3rd party candidate rather than go with Trump, but there’s also this letter signed by 60 Republican “foreign policy insiders” (including conservative author Max Boot, former Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff, and Bush State Department officials Elliot Cohen and Robert Zoellick) who say they won’t support a Republican ticket led by Trump:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Bumping this, as the NYT says that one of the co-signers of this letter, former Attorney General Michael Mukasey, will speak at the convention next week:

http://nyti.ms/29ZvLYq

I'll wait and see what, if anything, he has to say about Trump before taking him off the list in the OP.

[Mr. Morden]

Mukasey didn't say anything about Trump in his speech.  He spent the whole time attacking Hillary Clinton.

In other news....Gary Johnson says he’s been talking to Jeb Bush:

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/07/gary-johnson-jeb-bush-225875

You must be logged in to read this quote.

[ElectionsGuy]

lol

Its so ironic that establishment Republicans like Bush and Romney are coming to Gary of all people.

[Mr. Morden]

Both former Sen. Larry Pressler (SD) and former Gov. Arne Carlson (MN) are backing Clinton over Trump.  I’ve added them to the list in the OP:

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/283330-former-gop-senator-endorses-clinton-after-orlando-shooting
http://www.citypages.com/news/why-former-gov-arne-carlson-republican-is-voting-for-hillary-clinton-8354720

Carlson says he thinks Trump might be mentally ill:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

While Pressler is comparing the Trumpistas to the Nazis:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

[Mr. Morden]

Btw, I'm still waiting for a single high profile Republican who previously ruled out voting for Trump in the GE to change their minds and endorse him.  There've been plenty of folks who went from undecided to endorsing him, but among those who said months ago that they wouldn't support Trump in the GE, none of them have flip-flopped and currently backing Trump.

I thought folks were saying that all the #NeverTrump Republican politicians would fall in line?  We're past the RNC now, so what gives?  If there was going to be a mass migration of these folks into the Trump column, wouldn't it have happened by now?

[SUSAN CRUSHBONE]

lol

Its so ironic that establishment Republicans like Bush and Romney are coming to Gary of all people.

not really. johnson's basically an establishment republican with a coupla ~rebellious~ positions stapled on.

[Torie]

Btw, I'm still waiting for a single high profile Republican who previously ruled out voting for Trump in the GE to change their minds and endorse him.  There've been plenty of folks who went from undecided to endorsing him, but among those who said months ago that they wouldn't support Trump in the GE, none of them have flip-flopped and currently backing Trump.

I thought folks were saying that all the #NeverTrump Republican politicians would fall in line?  We're past the RNC now, so what gives?  If there was going to be a mass migration of these folks into the Trump column, wouldn't it have happened by now?

Is it possible that some of these folks share my opinion of Trump? If so, you have your answer.

[Mr. Morden]

Btw, I'm still waiting for a single high profile Republican who previously ruled out voting for Trump in the GE to change their minds and endorse him.  There've been plenty of folks who went from undecided to endorsing him, but among those who said months ago that they wouldn't support Trump in the GE, none of them have flip-flopped and currently backing Trump.

I thought folks were saying that all the #NeverTrump Republican politicians would fall in line?  We're past the RNC now, so what gives?  If there was going to be a mass migration of these folks into the Trump column, wouldn't it have happened by now?

Is it possible that some of these folks share my opinion of Trump? If so, you have your answer.

Well, yes, I was being facetious in my post.  Of course many of these folks aren't endorsing Trump and will never endorse him because they think he's terrible.  My post was tweaking folks like Ljube, who keep insisting that the #NeverTrump Republican politicians will drop their opposition to Trump any minute now.  E.g.:

https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=235312.msg5041871#msg5041871

[Gustaf]

One thing that's been hard for me to reconcile. Polls have broadly suggested that Trump is competitive with Clinton, pulling nearly all Republican voters (like 85%-90%). At the same time, rather significant numbers of GOP officeholders and party people are out against Trump. And presumably even more of them are privately opposed to him but feel the need to prioritize unity in their public image.

Now, I know people say that there is a gap between the "establishment" and the Republican voters (and clearly there is). But surely, Republican politicians must SOMEWHAT represent real Republicans? Like, I'd have expected there to be a decent chunk of Republican voters who'd feel similarly repulsed by Trump.

[Mr. Morden]

One thing that's been hard for me to reconcile. Polls have broadly suggested that Trump is competitive with Clinton, pulling nearly all Republican voters (like 85%-90%). At the same time, rather significant numbers of GOP officeholders and party people are out against Trump. And presumably even more of them are privately opposed to him but feel the need to prioritize unity in their public image.

Now, I know people say that there is a gap between the "establishment" and the Republican voters (and clearly there is). But surely, Republican politicians must SOMEWHAT represent real Republicans? Like, I'd have expected there to be a decent chunk of Republican voters who'd feel similarly repulsed by Trump.

In the CBS/NYT poll, for example, if you look at the 3-way matchup that includes Gary Johnson, the %age of Republicans backing Trump is about 80%.  The other 20% are either for Johnson, for Clinton, or undecided.  (And same with the Democrats and Clinton.  Only about 80% of them back Clinton if you list a 3rd party option.  Also, ~20% of Republicans have an unfavorable opinion of Trump, just as ~20% of Dems have an unfavorable opinion of Clinton.)

And the thing is, among Republican *politicians*, that is actually pretty representative.  About 80% of them have at least nominally said that they "support the nominee".  The rest are mostly undecided, with many saying they'll write in a name or not vote for president at all.  But that is unusual.  Usually, ~99% of politicians belonging to one of the major political parties supports that party's nominee for president, even if the voters are unenthusiastic.  Usually the party defectors among the electorate are not actually represented by politicians.  This time, it looks like they are, at least on the Republican side.

[Fuzzy Bear]

One thing that's been hard for me to reconcile. Polls have broadly suggested that Trump is competitive with Clinton, pulling nearly all Republican voters (like 85%-90%). At the same time, rather significant numbers of GOP officeholders and party people are out against Trump. And presumably even more of them are privately opposed to him but feel the need to prioritize unity in their public image.

Now, I know people say that there is a gap between the "establishment" and the Republican voters (and clearly there is). But surely, Republican politicians must SOMEWHAT represent real Republicans? Like, I'd have expected there to be a decent chunk of Republican voters who'd feel similarly repulsed by Trump.

In the CBS/NYT poll, for example, if you look at the 3-way matchup that includes Gary Johnson, the %age of Republicans backing Trump is about 80%.  The other 20% are either for Johnson, for Clinton, or undecided.  (And same with the Democrats and Clinton.  Only about 80% of them back Clinton if you list a 3rd party option.  Also, ~20% of Republicans have an unfavorable opinion of Trump, just as ~20% of Dems have an unfavorable opinion of Clinton.)

And the thing is, among Republican *politicians*, that is actually pretty representative.  About 80% of them have at least nominally said that they "support the nominee".  The rest are mostly undecided, with many saying they'll write in a name or not vote for president at all.  But that is unusual.  Usually, ~99% of politicians belonging to one of the major political parties supports that party's nominee for president, even if the voters are unenthusiastic.  Usually the party defectors among the electorate are not actually represented by politicians.  This time, it looks like they are, at least on the Republican side.

What has happened is that Trump has exposed the REAL Republican Party as being something different than it really is.  Trump, himself, is really an anti-neocon moderate Republican who comes to be a moderate by taking positions that are different from both the Democrats and Republican orthodoxy, but which reflect the views of much of the rank and file of the GOP.

If my statement above isn't true, than Trump could never have gotten within 100 miles of the GOP nomination.  He's where he is because a whole swath of Republicans have been poorly represented by their party for a long time.  These Republicans were neither neocons nor "small government" conservatives, but they were regular supporters of the GOP Presidential ticket.  In Trump, they finally found a candidate who reflected their views for the first time in decades. 

[Gustaf]

Moderate is misleading, just as National Socialism wasn't really a centrist position, even though they tried to claim so.

[GeorgiaModerate]

"Jeb Bush's top adviser, Sally Bradshaw, has left the Republican Party to become an independent, and says if the presidential race in Florida is close, she'll vote for Hillary Clinton."

http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/01/politics/sally-bradshaw-jeb-bush-donald-trump-florida/index.html

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

While Pressler is comparing the Trumpistas to the Nazis:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

?!

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

While Pressler is comparing the Trumpistas to the Nazis:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

?!

Might be talking about this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utah_War

You must be logged in to read this quote.

There were other conflicts between various levels of US government and the Mormons as well, including the death of founder Joseph Smith

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Joseph_Smith

You must be logged in to read this quote.

The Mormons have good reasons to worry about TrumpMiller.

[Mehmentum]

Rep. Richard Hanna (R-NY) is voting for Clinton.

[Mr. Morden]

Rep. Richard Hanna (R-NY) is voting for Clinton.

I think that makes him the first #NeverTrump Republican currently in Congress to endorse Clinton.  The others who've done it are all former officials who are now out of politics.  The other #NeverTrumpers still in office are mostly talking about writing in a name, or have flirted with the idea of voting third party.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

While Pressler is comparing the Trumpistas to the Nazis:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

?!

Might be talking about this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utah_War

You must be logged in to read this quote.

There were other conflicts between various levels of US government and the Mormons as well, including the death of founder Joseph Smith

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Joseph_Smith

You must be logged in to read this quote.

The Mormons have good reasons to worry about TrumpMiller.

Oh yes, absolutely.  But it's really curious to say that Mormons and Jews are the only religious groups that have faced attempted extermination by a government. 

[Crumpets]

Rep. Richard Hanna (R-NY) is voting for Clinton.

I think that makes him the first #NeverTrump Republican currently in Congress to endorse Clinton.  The others who've done it are all former officials who are now out of politics.  The other #NeverTrumpers still in office are mostly talking about writing in a name, or have flirted with the idea of voting third party.

Hanna's district is R+3 in Hillary's home state. The logic seems pretty clear.

[PeteB]

Top Bush loyalist Sally Bradshaw switches party registration and will vote for Clinton "if Florida is close"

http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/01/politics/sally-bradshaw-jeb-bush-donald-trump-florida/

[dspNY]

Maria Comella, one of Chris Christie's top aides, says Trump is "unfit for Presidency" and is #ImWithHer

https://twitter.com/JohnJHarwood/status/760564275530207232

[Joe Republic]

Rep. Richard Hanna (R-NY) is voting for Clinton.

I think that makes him the first #NeverTrump Republican currently in Congress to endorse Clinton.  The others who've done it are all former officials who are now out of politics.  The other #NeverTrumpers still in office are mostly talking about writing in a name, or have flirted with the idea of voting third party.

Hanna's district is R+3 in Hillary's home state. The logic seems pretty clear.

Hanna is retiring this year.  He has little to no self-interest in this move.

[Gustaf]

Rep. Richard Hanna (R-NY) is voting for Clinton.

I think that makes him the first #NeverTrump Republican currently in Congress to endorse Clinton.  The others who've done it are all former officials who are now out of politics.  The other #NeverTrumpers still in office are mostly talking about writing in a name, or have flirted with the idea of voting third party.

Hanna's district is R+3 in Hillary's home state. The logic seems pretty clear.

Hanna is retiring this year.  He has little to no self-interest in this move.

Yeah, I think it goes the other way. It's pretty clear that if it weren't for the concern of losing the substantial Trumpist chunk of the GOP Primary electorate tons of officeholders would be coming out against him.

[Averroës Nix]

Wouldn't be surprised if Chris Gibson (veteran, moderate, not running for re-election, represents a fairly cosmopolitan district, has openly criticized Trump and never officially endorsed) followed Hanna's lead on this before long.

Not sure whether any other NY Republicans would be interested, as Stefanik is probably the only one who represents a district where it would go over well, and she has already openly endorsed Trump for the sake of her party leadership ambitions.