GOP's long-simmering civil war breaks into the open
Donald Trump insisted to a packed audience in Florida Wednesday that the campaign has "never been so well united."
But behind the scenes, an all-out war between the party establishment and conservative base is breaking out -- in the halls of Congress, the fight for control of the Senate and in battleground states -- all threatening the GOP's chances of winning this fall.
Conservative insurgents in key Senate races are throwing their full-fledged support behind Donald Trump, hoping to foment anger at incumbent Republicans worried that embracing the controversial nominee too tightly could alienate swing voters.
Across the Capitol, a bloc of outspoken conservatives in the House Freedom Caucus is furious at the party leadership after the surprising ouster this week of a leader of the group, Kansas Rep. Tim Huelskamp, at the hands of a moderate candidate backed by well-funded groups linked to the party establishment. Conservatives are already plotting retribution, with some privately warning that House Speaker Paul Ryan could face a revolt from the right.
"Clearly the war continues," Huelskamp told CNN Wednesday. "The establishment never sleeps. They spend more time going after conservatives than going after Hillary Clinton. It was about sending a message, and the message is this: 'They came after me to get a scalp.'"
And GOP leaders are irritated at Trump for picking what they believe was an unnecessary fight with two prominent Republicans -- Ryan and Sen. John McCain -- just as the party was trying to train its focus on Clinton.
"If he wastes time settling scores, or responding to what he thinks to be criticism, then you're just wasting an opportunity to deliver a message," said Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma, an ally of Ryan's. "Don't waste your time commenting on the Republicans."
The ill-will between the base and the leadership has been growing since the rise of the tea party in 2010, culminating with the nomination of Trump on the backs of voters who feel betrayed by party leaders. And in the 2016 campaign, primary challengers in key Senate battlegrounds are seeking to align themselves with Trump in order to attack GOP incumbents who are struggling to support the GOP nominee's brand of Republicanism.
"What we are seeing here is the Trump wave," said Kelli Ward, a former state senator seeking to overtake McCain in the state's primary later this month. "The tsunami of anti-Trump sentiment is now crashing over so many people who have been in Washington for way too long."
Yet vulnerable Republicans in tough reelection races are finding new ways to distance themselves from Trump, including Colorado Rep. Mike Coffman, who released an ad Thursday saying of Trump, "I don't care for him much."
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