President Trump’s endorsements of Republican candidates in 2018 have served as an essential tool in his crucial effort to firmly and irrevocably take the GOP away from the establishment water-carriers who ran the party into the ground over the course of 30-odd years.
Even major media outlets that have been hostile to Trump are acknowledging this development.
“Mr. Trump’s endorsements have included many candidates who did not face serious primary challenges. But they have also proved decisive in some races, or at least ensured victory for candidates in tight races, such as Brian Kemp, the Republican nominee for governor in Georgia,” the harshly Trump-phobic New York Times wanly admits.
“Mr. Trump, thus far, has retained strong support from Republican voters, giving him leverage to yank the party into his orbit. His involvement in primaries represents a departure from the 2016 campaign, when Mr. Trump often acted more like an independent than a Republican standard-bearer,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
Cleaning House
Indeed, Trump supporters have good cause to be enthusiastic about the changes occurring inside the Republican ranks. “With the 2018 primaries about to end, all but two of the 37 Republicans Mr. Trump has endorsed for House, Senate and governor during their primary campaigns have won,” the Wall Street Journal’s Janet Hook reported on Aug. 27.
Trump’s thorough crushing in 2016 of the neocon elite who have controlled the party for far too long has carried over into 2018, which was always going to be a vital season for those who support the president’s America First agenda.
In order for Trump’s campaign to revitalize the nation to succeed, the Republican Party had to be cleared of the dead weight that serves corporate donors instead of the American people. With his impressive record of successful endorsements, there is every reason to believe this effort is taking place.
Michael Glassner, chief operating officer of Donald J. Trump for President Inc., describes how a Trump endorsement can derail opponents of his agenda within the GOP ranks.
“During the ‘two minute warning’ of South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District GOP primary, President Trump’s last-minute tweet supporting State Rep. Katie Arrington gave her the boost she needed to beat three-term incumbent Mark Sanford.”
“The presidential endorsement sent a shock wave throughout the GOP and delivered a clear message to those who blithely oppose the America First agenda and attack the president.”
Establishment Eraser
Sanford is just one of several GOP Establishment enemies of grassroots America to be decisively thrashed by the Trump Steamroller.
House Speaker Paul Ryan is leaving of his own volition, keenly aware of the fact that he has no national support at all. None.
Sen. Jeff Flake is leaving of his own volition, for the same reason.
Sen. John McCain has passed.
Rep. Ron DeSantis, an enthusiastic Trump supporter, defeated his Florida gubernatorial primary foe, Adam Putnam, who backed Jeb Bush for president in 2016, with Trump’s endorsement going a long way to propelling DeSantis to victory.
Randy Schultz, writing in the Sun-Sentinel, starkly reveals the power of a Trump endorsement as it played out in the Sunshine State:
“According to one pollster, Republicans who knew about the Trump endorsement favored DeSantis by 31 points. Those who didn’t know about it favored Putnam by 23 points.”
Putnam was once considered a rising star in Florida. He had a powerful money chest to rely on. Trump endorsed his opponent. Putnam lost. The message is clear in both Swamp and the Heartland: The American people are with President Trump.
There is no place in the Republican Party for those who would seek to cling to a tired, corrupt, self-serving status quo that this president and his supporters are determined to destroy forever.
