Musicmystery
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The Memo: GOP fears damage done by Trump
Excerpts:
As a week dominated by President Trump's response to the violence at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va., draws to a close, many Republicans are worried that serious damage has been done to their party.
Specifically, they argue that Trump may have set back years of efforts to make the GOP more appealing to an increasingly diverse American electorate.
There is no mistaking the seriousness with which they view the situation.
One veteran Republican strategist, who asked for anonymity to speak candidly, told The Hill that Trump's response was "a f---ing disaster." The source added, "I have no idea where we go from here."
Many Republicans have rushed to distance themselves from Trump, after he proclaimed that there were "very fine people" on both sides in Charlottesville. A 32-year-old counterprotester, Heather Heyer, was killed last Saturday after she was hit by a car allegedly driven by a man who harbored far-right views.
Marchers from neo-Nazi organizations were among those who had come to the Virginia city for an event billed as "Unite the Right." They held a torch-lit parade at the University of Virginia last Friday night and chanted racist and anti-Semitic slogans.
The two living Republican ex-presidents, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, released a joint statement implicitly condemning Trump. So, too, did the party's leaders in both chambers of Congress, Speaker Paul Ryan (Wis.) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.).
On Friday, the GOP's 2012 presidential nominee, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, joined the chorus of condemnation. In a Facebook post, Romney lamented that what Trump had said about Charlottesville "caused racists to rejoice, minorities to weep and the vast heart of America to mourn."
But the high-profile criticisms may not be enough to mitigate the damage wreaked by Trump. He has the bully pulpit of the presidency, and the firestorm around his comments reached parts of popular culture - late-night talk shows, for example - where statements from McConnell or a Facebook post by Romney hold little sway.
"It's terribly frustrating," said Heye, who added that it would be incorrect to view the damage as confined to black or Latino voters. There are plenty of white people who find such a stance unpalatable, he suggested.
Republicans fear Trump's comments are "turning off a broad swath of voters" he said. "It's obviously off-putting to minority voters - but not just minority voters."
"Nothing has repealed the long-term demographic trends in this country, and nothing has changed the imperative for Republicans to appeal to a more diverse electorate if they hope to win national elections," said strategist and pollster Whit Ayres, a long-time advocate of the need for the party to modernize its appeal.
"Trump managed to stitch together an electoral college majority while coming millions of votes shy of a majority of the popular vote," Ayres added.
To win competitive races as a Republican in the current polarized environment, the source said, "you have got to have virtually all the Trump people and a good chunk of people who can't stand the man. How do you walk that fine line?"
Moderate Republican voices such as Heye, meanwhile, are still grappling with their shock at what has transpired.
"In Charlottesville, we are talking about neo-Nazis chanting truly vile things. To see the president come out the way he did - it's impossible for me to try to convince an African-American, or Hispanic, or Jewish voter why they should vote Republican," Heye said.
More: http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/347176-the-memo-gop-fears-damage-done-by-trump?amp
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RE: Republicans slowly realize Trump may be worst presi... - 
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