How Evangelicals are Handing the Presidency, Senate, and Supreme Court to Hillary Clinton (And What To Do To Stop It)
Since Donald Trump’s Access Hollywood scandal broke out, I’ve had numerous discussions with Evangelicals who, while enraged and disgusted with his comments, are still staunchly supporting Donald Trump. Many of those I’ve spoken with share the sentiments of Tony Perkins, the head of the Family Research Council who said to BuzzFeed News, “My personal support for Donald Trump has never been based upon shared values, it is based upon shared concerns about issues such as justices of the Supreme Court ignoring the Constitution, American’s continued vulnerability to Islamic terrorists, and the systematic attack on religious liberty that we’ve seen over the last 7 1/2 years”. Many have shared with me on Twitter and Facebook that while they do not agree with Trump’s behavior, they are willing to look past his character in order to prevent Hillary Clinton from becoming President. According to them, a President Hillary Clinton would nominate a more liberal Supreme Court Justice, and a vote for Trump is a way to “prevent that evil”.
Here’s the problem, the continued support of Donald Trump is actually helping Hillary Clinton and the Democrats not only win the Presidency, but also win the Senate. There is a higher than 80% chance that Hillary Clinton carries all except 10 states. Additionally, a Democratic Senate would surely allow the confirmation of whomever a President Clinton decides to nominate for the vacant court seat. Since the scandal, Fox News reported just this evening that 51% of the US population now prefer a Democratic senate and many Republicans’ seats are in jeopardy. Republicans now have to win 7 of the 11 contested Senate seats to hold the Senate. A very difficult tasks and one that many sites, like FiveThirtyEight.com, predict would be improbable as Democrats now lead in enough states to take back the Senate. The shift is directly related to Trump’s unfavorably rating, now at over 65%, and considering there is a direct correlation between Presidential polling and Senate polling, the Republicans are in severe trouble. If my Evangelical friends want to keep the Senate, and therefore potentially prevent the appointment of a liberal justice to the Supreme Court, the best strategy in my opinion is to dump Trump.
Evangelicals hold the key because Donald Trump would never resign his nomination if he felt that the Evangelicals still support him. The only hope the Republicans have to retain the Senate, and even potentially win the Presidency is if Donald Trump were not the nominee.
Here’s are some possible scenarios on how the Republicans can potentially hold on to the Senate and even with the Presidency:
- Donald Trump resigns and under Republican National Committee rules, Mike Pence becomes the nominee. Evangelicals love Mike Pence and in a recent poll has the support of over 90% of Republicans (Trump has 72% of Republican support. In contrast, Romney Had 93% of Republican support and still lost to Barack Obama).
- Evangelicals vote for someone other than Trump. I would imagine that many Evangelicals won’t find Gary Johnson or Dr. Jill Stein acceptable choices. However, there is the option to vote for Evan McMullin. Mr. McMullin is the former chief policy director of the House Republican Conference and a former CIA operations officer. He’s on the ballot in Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, New Mexico, South Carolina, Utah, and Virginia. McMullin needs to only win 1 Electoral college vote. That means he can win Utah (where Trump is unpopular), and contest in Colorado and New Mexico which are now increasingly looking like Hillary Clinton territory. If McMullin or Trump can prevent Clinton from winning 270 electoral college votes, then the House of Representatives decides who becomes president from the top three electoral college winners. Hence, preventing Hillary from winning one of the battleground states, may give the Republicans and Evangelicals a chance to still decide the fate of the election and the Supreme Court.
This is why it is essential now for Evangelicals to lead the charge to dump Trump. There is no time to waste. If Evangelicals support him, all hope is lost.
