ELECTION/GOP/HOUSE OF REPS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP PEOPLE: “Imagine being swept out of power in Congress and relegated to the role of spectator and naysayer as your political opponents dictate the terms of legislative debate. Add in the specter of a painful slog to re-election, sharing the ticket with President Trump and being asked to answer daily for his every tweet and incendiary statement. Now picture doing all of that only to risk landing in the minority again, possibly under the other party’s president. Such is the plight of House Republicans contemplating whether to seek re-election in 2020, and the bleak outlook is taking its toll. A half-dozen Republican members of Congress have announced over the past two weeks that they will retire rather than face voters again next year, and more are expected to follow in the coming weeks, dealing an early setback to the party’s uphill battle to win back the House. The rush for the exits is also providing evidence about how difficult the House Republican Conference is becoming for the few women and people of color who remain in it.”
–Julie Hirschfeld Davis, “Deprived of Power, House Republicans Head for the Exits,” The New York Times online, August 2, 2019