RedBlueAmerica: Should top Republicans withdraw support from Donald Trump?

There are growing signs of strained relations between Donald Trump and the leaders of the Republican Party he’ll represent on the presidential ballot this fall.

Trump opened the week by feuding with the Muslim parents of an American soldier slain in Iraq who spoke against him at the Democratic National Convention. Republicans such as House Speaker Paul Ryan and Sen. John McCain rebuked Trump’s stance, to which he responded by saying he wasn’t ready to endorse the duo in their re-election battles.

Can the GOP maintain party unity through November? Should it? How should Ryan and McCain respond? Joel Mathis and Ben Boychuk, the RedBlueAmerica columnists, debate. JOEL MATHIS Memo to Republican leaders: You’ll be doing yourselves — and the country — a favor if you dump Trump before Labor Day.

Yeah, it would be an ugly process, and yeah, it would enrage a good number of your voters. But the truth is this: Donald Trump is increasingly likely to lose this fall’s general election contest and lose it so disastrously that the taint of this election will cling to your brand for years, maybe decades, to come. Dumping him from the ticket is playing the long game, sacrificing a knight now so you can win the game in 2020 and beyond.

Need reasons? There are political reasons: Trump’s refusal to back Paul Ryan and John McCain means he doesn’t give a fig about your party and sees it only as a vehicle for his own ambitions. That’s true of most politicians, but most politicians understand they have to help build the party as well if they want its support. Trump feels no such obligation: He’s happy to sacrifice the GOP on the altar of his hubris.

Then there are governance reasons. Trump has shown little evidence that he knows much about the issues facing American policymakers and doesn’t seem to care to know. His instincts are not just dangerous but perhaps catastrophic: Joe Scarborough reported this week that Trump had asked a foreign policy expert why America doesn’t use its nuclear weapons to solve international problems.

“And three times (Trump) asked about the use of nuclear weapons,” Scarborough said. “Three times he asked at one point if we had them why can’t we use them.”

There’s a reason the United States doesn’t use nukes so cavalierly: They are genocidally lethal. Using them would make other nuclear powers nervous and angry, increasing the likelihood of a war that could destroy this country — and a good portion of the world. Donald Trump should understand this. It is frightening that he doesn’t.

Giving such a man a shot at the presidency is nothing short of democratic malpractice. Please, Republicans, for all Americans’ sake: Take Trump off the ticket. BEN BOYCHUK Republicans are stuck with Donald Trump. Or lucky to have him. Take your pick.

In the “stuck” column, the simple fact is he’s the Republican Party’s nominee for president. That isn’t going to change.

Every harebrained scheme to stop his nomination ended in embarrassment and failure. Some Republican activists were certain they could change the rules days before the national convention last month and “unbound” Trump’s pledged delegates. Their proposal lost overwhelmingly.

Then a few die-hards argued that a rule change was unnecessary; delegates could simply “vote their consciences.” Either the delegates’ consciences were clear or they lacked the courage of their convictions. In any event, Trump got cheers and runner-up Ted Cruz was booed off the Cleveland stage.

Look, many of the party’s leaders — including Ryan and McCain — endorsed Trump knowing exactly how volatile and unpredictable he could be. They somehow got the impression that Trump would cease to be Trump and morph into a traditional candidate.

To paraphrase Otter from “Animal House”: They messed up. They trusted Trump. All they can do now is make the best of it.

So how are Republicans “lucky” to have such a loose cannon of a nominee?

For years, GOP leaders have told their rank-andfile members one thing, and done something else. Vote Republican, they said, and Congress will rein in federal spending and control the national debt. Vote Republican, they assured, and Obamacare will be repealed and replaced. Vote Republican, they promised, and the borders would be secured.

Voters messed up. They trusted GOP leaders. Now they’re going all out with Trump.

The idea that the erstwhile reality television star would drop out of the race, either for the good of the party or the country, is a clear example of wish replacing thought — a really futile and stupid gesture on somebody’s part.

This guy isn’t going anywhere. Cast your votes accordingly.