Morning Jolt: Trump Doesn’t Need Different GOP Senators, He Needs More of Them

Steve Bannon to Sean Hannity this week, discussing efforts to recruit primary challengers to incumbent Republican senators: "Nobody's safe. We're coming after all of them."

If every Republican senator is going to get a primary challenger backed by Bannon, no matter what, then what's the incentive to vote Bannon's way between now and Election Day?

"It's about sending a message!" Yes, it sends the message that there is no amount of loyalty to Trump that is sufficient to placate the Steve Bannons of the world, so you might as well vote the way you and your constituents prefer and let the chips fall where they may.

The problem for the Trump administration is not really one of insufficiently loyal or cooperative Republican senators. Peruse the tables over at Five-Thirty-Eight about how often GOP senators vote the way the Trump administration prefers. Fifteen Republican senators have voted with the White House 95.9 percent of the time. The least "loyal" Republican senator is Susan Collins of Maine, and even she has voted with the White House position 79 ...

October 11 2017

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Trump Doesn't Need Different GOP Senators, He Needs More of Them Jim Geraghty Steve Bannon to Sean Hannity this week, discussing efforts to recruit primary challengers to incumbent Republican senators: "Nobody's safe. We're coming after all of them." If every Republican senator is going to get a primary challenger backed by Bannon, no matter what, then what's the incentive to vote Bannon's way between now and Election Day? "It's about sending a message!" Yes, it sends the message that there is no amount of loyalty to Trump that is sufficient to placate the Steve Bannons of the world, so you might as well vote the way you and your constituents prefer and let the chips fall where they may. The problem for the Trump administration is not really one of insufficiently loyal or cooperative Republican senators. Peruse the tables over at Five-Thirty-Eight about how often GOP senators vote the way the Trump administration prefers. Fifteen Republican senators have voted with the White House 95.9 percent of the time. The least "loyal" Republican senator is Susan Collins of Maine, and even she has voted with the White House position 79 ... READ MORE Can the NFL Survive National Polarization? David French There's something that has always bothered me about the argument that commercial enterprises can't succeed if they "alienate half the audience." In the vast majority of cases, it's just wrong.... The Grave-Hunter, Hunted Jay Nordlinger The Grave-Hunter, Hunted ADVERTISEMENT The Legal Resistance to President Trump Josh Blackman Hillary Clinton was destined to shatter the glass ceiling and pack the Supreme Court with liberal lions. The Left dreamed of the day when federalism, the right to bear arms, and religious... Our Halting Progress toward Maximum Economic Freedom Michael Tanner The good news is that the bad news isn't quite as bad. Late last month, Canada's Fraser Institute released the 2017 Economic Freedom of the World report. This year's report covers the state... The Harvey Weinstein Scandal Leaves a Trail of Hypocrisy Jonah Goldberg If hypocrisy were a greenhouse gas, the ice caps would be gone by now. Let's start with the obvious: Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein wasn't fired for being a pig, he was fired for being... Gillespie for Governor The Editors The party with control of the White House tends to lose the Virginia gubernatorial race. It would serve Virginia well to buck that trend and elect Ed Gillespie in November. Despite the drag... ADVERTISEMENT Galileo Revisited: The Galileo Affair in Context Dom Paschal Scotti 'This exquisite history of a defining moment at the birth of modernity resists the temptation to idealize or villainize, treating both Galileo and his opponents as the flesh-and-blood creatures they actually were.' - Michael Augros, Ph.D, author, Who Designed the Designer? A Rediscovered Path to God's Existence LEARN MORE Top Shots California Wildfires ADVERTISEMENT Follow Us & Share 215 Lexington Ave., New York, NY, 10016, USA Your Preferences | Unsubscribe | Privacy View this e-mail in your browser.