{UAH} WE ARE SENDING OUR CONDOLENCES TO THE FAMILY OF REP. JUSTIN AMASH What a loss of a great man !!!!!!!

Libertarian hopeful Justin Amash latest GOP Trump critic to get run out of Congress, or run himself out

by W. James Antle III

May 05, 2020 09:08 AM

 

Whatever happens with Michigan Rep. Justin Amash’s bid for the Libertarian Party presidential nomination, there will be one fewer right-leaning critic of President Trump in Congress next year.

Amash had already left the Republican Party last year, but his switch from seeking a sixth House term to the Libertarian presidential contest continues a pattern of outspoken GOP Trump critics either surrendering their seats on Capitol Hill or their confrontational stance toward the president.

“It is my personal belief that this movie ends badly,” former Rep. Mark Sanford said of his party’s full-throated embrace of Trump. The South Carolinian lost a Republican primary in 2018 thanks to Trump’s last-minute Twitter endorsement of his challenger, who, in turn, went on to lose to a Democrat in November. "Mark Sanford has been very unhelpful to me in my campaign to MAGA," Trump posted.

Sanford explored a 2020 primary challenge against Trump but dropped out before the first ballots were cast. “It was a waste of time,” he said. “But the buddies of mine who encouraged it said, ‘You’ve already invested 25 years of your life [in politics], what’s a couple more months?’”

Most Republicans who have crossed swords with Trump did not even make it to the primary. Sen. Bob Corker, a Tennessee Republican, fretted that Trump would start “World War III” with his “reckless threats,” temperament, and tweets. “He concerns me,” Corker told the New York Times in 2017. “He would have to concern anyone who cares about our nation.” He retired and was succeeded by Sen. Marsha Blackburn, a Republican Trump loyalist.

Sen. Jeff Flake wrote an anti-Trump book that borrowed its title, Conscience of a Conservative, from the bestseller from iconic fellow Arizona Republican Barry Goldwater. He delivered a Senate floor speech denouncing the president — in which he also announced his retirement rather than defend these views in a GOP primary. He was succeeded by Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema. Flake recently said he would not vote for Trump in November and that it would have been “immensely satisfying” to deny the president Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation, even though Flake voted to confirm Kavanaugh.

Amash’s decision to become an independent last year would have allowed him to run for reelection without facing Republican primary voters after coming out for Trump’s impeachment in response to special counsel Robert Mueller’s report — which House Democrats ultimately did not use as their basis for impeaching the president. Amash will now instead compete for the presidential nomination at the Libertarians’ national convention.

Trump has become an obstacle to the political resurrection of Jeff Sessions, his original attorney general and the first senator to endorse his 2016 presidential campaign. He endorsed Sessions's primary opponent ahead of a July runoff. Trump also put a scare into Rep. Thomas Massie when the Kentucky Republican tried to force a roll-call vote on the coronavirus rescue package. Both candidates have tried to position themselves as pro-Trump.

Other erstwhile GOP Trump detractors have either embraced the president (Sens. Rand Paul, Lindsey Graham, and Marco Rubio) or become quiet (Sen. Ben Sasse). The most significant remaining exceptions are Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah, the least pro-Trump red state — Never Trump independent Evan McMullin won 21.5% there in 2016 and held Trump below 50% — and blue state Republican governors such as Maryland’s Larry Hogan and Massachusetts’s Charlie Baker. Romney was the only Republican in Congress to back an article of impeachment against Trump.

What kind of effect Amash would have on Trump in a general election is open for debate. “There isn’t a hint of a glimmer of a ghost of a chance that Amash has a chance to win any state, let alone the presidency,” said Jeff Timmer, a Republican strategist and Trump critic. “Amash running only benefits Trump in Michigan, and I think, or at least hope, he eventually comes to that realization.”

Others disagree. “He will get the traditional Libertarian Party votes and maybe a place anti-Trump votes could go, but those are all votes Trump already didn’t have,” said former Michigan Republican Party Chairman Saul Anuzis. “I see him having very little if any effect on Michigan or the race as a whole.”

“Michigan is such a purple state, it absolutely could have an impact,” said John Truscott, a consultant and longtime press secretary to former Gov. John Engler. “If he can get 2% of the vote in Michigan, it could be enough to put the state in the Democrat column."

Even conservative Trump skeptics recognize his staying power with Republican voters. "Trump's base is hardcore," Sanford said. "They are not going to turn on him easily."

EM         -> { Trump for 2020 }

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