The new GOP primary litmus test: Loyalty to Trump: Republicans who show anything less than total fe [View all]

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What a sick way to run an election!!



The new GOP primary litmus test: Loyalty to Trump


http://www.politico.com/story/2017/08/21/trump-republicans-loyalty-arizona-241861

Republicans who show anything less than total fealty to the president are being hammered by GOP challengers.

By KEVIN ROBILLARD

08/21/2017 05:21 PM EDT



Sen. Dean Heller (left) is one of the candidates that has come under pressure as loyalty to President Trump has emerged as a potent issue in the 2018 races. | Michael Reynolds/Getty Images

By Ankit Panda

Taxes, spending and even health care have taken a back seat to the most potent new litmus test in Republican primaries: allegiance to President Donald Trump.

Even as the president spars with members of his own party and his approval rating has plummeted to historic lows, Republican Senate campaigns across the country are preparing to use instances of disloyalty to Trump to bludgeon primary opponents who’ve gotten on the wrong side of the president.

Loyalty to Trump has quickly become the most potent issue for the Republican base, according to a dozen candidates and strategists immersed in 2018 races. It has already put Sens. Jeff Flake and Dean Heller under pressure in their states, sparked bickering between GOP candidates in two of Republicans’ top 2018 targets, Indiana and West Virginia, and sunk one candidate running for Alabama’s open Senate seat.

“In any state where Trump has an approval [rating] of 85 percent or better among GOP primary voters, it’s an effective weapon,” said Steven Law, president of Senate Leadership Fund, the Republican super PAC aligned with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, while warning every state and every race is different. Ahead of the first round of voting in Alabama’s special Senate election this month, the PAC slammed Rep. Mo Brooks’ over his criticism of Trump in 2016.........................