[Liberty Nation] Much to the chagrin of the globalist, free trade Republicans who still inhabit important positions within the party establishment, President Trump is an enormously popular chief executive among GOP voters. Which means those who would dearly love to return the party to the not-so-halcyon days of the Bush-McCain-Dole era face a delicate balancing act heading into the 2020 elections.CONCEDING THE OBVIOUS
It has become crystal clear, if not clear to Bill Kristol, that a NeverTrump challenger for the 2020 nomination is a hopeless proposition. Maryland Governor Larry Hogan (R), whom the Trump-hating Kristol had eyeballed as a potential candidate, has read the writing on the wall. Hogan has declared that he will not run against the president. Even as he backed out, however, he detailed once again the stark division between party apparatchiks and actual grassroots Republicans.
"In a telephone interview, Hogan told the Washington Examiner that he received enthusiastic encouragement from Republican thinkers, donors, and elected officials impressed with his ability to connect with a broad cross-section of voters in deep blue Maryland," the Examiner’s David M. Drucker wrote on June 4. No doubt there is truth in this statement. But one big thing is missing in that formula: actual support from real voters. "There wasn’t a groundswell among the average Republican primary voter," Hogan admitted. "They seem to be, at this point, very happy with the president."
This has been the missing ingredient in the half-baked NeverTrump cake all along, of course. Party professional hangers-on who lack an authentic support base of their own have continued to dream of ejecting a president who strongly appeals to GOP voters. "I think there’s broad consensus that no one is moving toward a run," Rob Stutzman, an anti-Trump Republican consultant in California glumly related to the Examiner.