Hillary Clinton is turning up the heat on Republican candidates who are facing tight races as well as tough decisions about Donald Trump, seeking to spread her new momentum to fellow Democrats on November ballots.
Are you with him or not? she’s demanding, after revelations of his predatory comments about women prompted party leaders to abandon him. Some GOP lawmakers are doing as she demands — but not in the way she hoped.
Two senators and two House members who called for Trump to step aside over the weekend now have climbed back aboard. Their basic case: They’re voting for a Republican next month and if Trump isn’t leaving then he’s got to be the one.
John Thune of South Dakota, the third-ranking Republican in the Senate told the Rapid City Journal he had “reservations about the way (Trump) has conducted his campaign and himself.” However, he said, “I’m certainly not going to vote for Hillary Clinton.”
Also back on board after calling on Trump to resign: Sen. Deb Fischer of Nebraska and Reps. Scott Garrett of New Jersey and Bradley Byrne of Alabama. There still are some three dozen GOP lawmakers who have withdrawn their support or are calling for Trump to step aside.
Meanwhile, in campaign rallies in Colorado and Nevada on Wednesday, Clinton planned to call out Republicans still backing Trump despite his caught-on-tape boasts about groping women. The strategy is the latest sign the campaign is moving past a narrow focus on winning the White House, and now is aiming to win big — by delivering the Senate to Democrats, making deep cuts into Republicans’ majority in the House and, possibly, winning states long considered Republican territory.
