Jakub Porzycki / NurPhoto via Getty Images |
President Donald Trump will be in Dallas next week to headline a two-day GOP convention. But many Republican lawmakers and candidates reportedly have other plans — or aren’t sure about attending. While the party’s congressional leadership will attend, of the 70 members of Congress or would-be members Politico surveyed, “most either do not plan to attend or are still weighing whether to go. Dozens more declined to share their plans.”
The reasons for non-attendance abounded: “I just felt I’d be more useful in my district,” said Michigan’s Tom Barrett. “I’m not a party guy,” said Pennsylvania’s Brian Fitzpatrick. Sincere or not, the rationales also likely stem from one number: 35.9%. For vulnerable GOP lawmakers, a party convention just two months before Election Day will complicate efforts to distance themselves from the president.
And that is how an unpopular president becomes a lame duck. |
