GOP Defections To Clinton Begin

The defections from the Republican establishment are starting to come. Today it is my old school classmate Meg Whitman who had not only come out and endorsed Clinton but also agreed to raise money for her. Whitman said, “Time and again history has shown that when demagogues have gotten power or come close to getting power, it usually does not end well.” She also said she would campaign with Clinton and reach out to other traditional GOP donors on behalf of Clinton. Another somewhat less prominent Republican, Maria Comella, a longtime aide to Chris Christie in addition to running his Presidential campaign, also announced she would be supporting Clinton. This is even more surprising because Christie has so clearly hitched his wagon to Trump. And yesterday Richard Hanna became the first Republican House member to come out and say he would vote for Clinton.

I expect the Republican defections will continue and those who come out early in support of Clinton will actually be in a much stronger position to help build the Republican party than those in the “yes, but” camp that continue to support Trump. Perversely, Obama’s strong condemnation of Trump yesterday and his call for responsible GOP leaders to repudiate Trump may make it even harder for elected Republican leaders to stop backing Trump. Anything that remotely looks like caving into Obama is met with fury by the hard-core Republican primary voters. But sticking with Trump may be even more damaging for those leaders in the longer run.