Trump Bashes GOP Leaders to Consolidate His Base and Feed on Voter Anger

Veteran political observer and world renowned economist Dr. Richard Vedder analyzes Donald J. Trump’s unprecedented attacks on Republican high-ranking officials during a campaign and the intraparty fights led by the GOP’s presidential candidate.
Vedder, a long-time Republican and fiscal conservative, said this type of intraparty chaos is unprecedented. “It is unique,” Vedder says.
The only election close to this was when former President Theodore Roosevelt bolted from the GOP in 1912 to form the Bull Moose Party and challenge incumbent GOP President William Howard Taft, from Ohio. Both lost to the Democrat Woodrow Wilson.
Vedder claims that Trump sees himself more as a “populist” than a Republican. He is going after blue collar white voters regardless of party. His base crosses party lines. He, therefore, doesn’t care about the GOP “elite.”
Trump hopes to add to that base with GOP loyalists who also are angry with the Republican power elite, Vedder says.
Vedder says that this election is unique, not only because of Trump’s unprecedented campaign style but because both candidates (Republican and Democrat) are “morally despicable” to the average voter.
Despite the intraparty wrangling in the GOP, Vedder thinks pundits may have written Trump off too soon. Vedder is less trusting of polls in this election than in others and he feels there is a hidden Trump vote. He thinks people are afraid to admit that they will vote for Trump but they still may do so in the privacy of the voting booth.
He does feel, however, that the intraparty fighting could hurt down-ballot U. S. Senate and House of Representative races for the Republicans.
Kyle Kondik, a professional campaign and election expert with no political bias, believes, that Trump’s recent slide in the polls puts him too far behind in Electoral College votes to catch up by Election Day.
Kondik notes that Trump is falling further behind in most swing states, with the exception of Ohio. Kondik believes, however, that Ohio is still a toss-up state. He reminds us that no Republican has ever won the Presidency without carrying Ohio but Democrats have. He believes Trump must win Ohio to have a chance but Hillary Clinton need not take Ohio to win the Presidency.