WASHINGTON (AP) – Fear and loathing is striking congressional Republicans faced with the distinct possibility of Donald Trump as their presidential nominee.
“My party has gone batshit crazy,” says South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, who called Trump a “nut job” and maintains that the billionaire businessman would inflict as much damage to the GOP as the iceberg did to the Titanic.
Republicans share a palpable fear that Trump would alienate Hispanics, minorities, independents and women, driving them to vote Democratic in November and costing the GOP the presidency, its Senate majority and suddenly competitive House seats. With the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, the ideological balance of the Supreme Court for decades also is at stake.
GOP incumbents clearly understand that the only option is to run a flawless campaign.
“My campaign is going to be about who I am and what I’ve done,” said Rep. Ryan Costello, R-Pa., a freshman facing a potentially tight re-election race in the Philadelphia suburbs. “And regardless of who the candidate is, I’m going to seek to build my own record and carry my own message in a very personalized way.”