Weekend Politics: What's Next (for the Non-Trumps)? [Y-not]

**PLEASE USE THE OPEN THREAD BELOW THIS ONE FOR OFF-TOPIC DISCUSSIONS. THANKS.**

Now that we've all had a few days to lick our wounds, not to mention burn our Republican voter ID cards, I'd like to start looking ahead to see if there is anything constructive we can do this Summer (and Fall).

They say politics makes strange bedfellows, and that's certainly true. Whom you invite into your bedroom might say something about your character, but other times it might just speak to desperate times requiring desperate actions. In recent days I've seen posturing by some politicians who, in their effort to get in the good graces of conservative voters, have over-inflated how much they Fought Trump (or helped Ted Cruz and the other non-Trumps). One example is Ben Sasse who seems to think we have very short memories or that we live in an age pre-Google. Senator Sasse did NOT endorse Ted Cruz and I'm offended that he (and some of his supporters) is trying to imply otherwise.

Whether or not Senator Sasse should suffer any electoral consequences over his Brave Sir Robin profile in courage is up to Nebraskans. Certainly he was not the worst offender in the spineless twit department, although he played it pretty coy in my book, but whatever.

The point of this post is actually not to punish the Ben Sasses of the world - or even the Mitch McConnells - but rather to see if we can reward the politicians who stood for us by endorsing and/or campaigning for Cruz (or your favorite non-Trump).

Here's the list of current politicians who endorsed Ted Cruz from FiveThirtyEight. I bolded the names of those Senators and Governors who are up for reelection this year. (Obviously all of the Congressional seats are in play.) The dates in the first column refer to when they endorsed Cruz. (I've re-ordered them by home state to make it easier for you to spot your elected officials.)

11/9/15 Mo Brooks REP. (R-ALA.)

3/20 Matt Salmon REP. (R-ARIZ.)
3/16 D. Schweikert REP. (R-ARIZ.)
3/11 Trent Franks REP. (R-ARIZ.)
1/12 Paul A. Gosar REP. (R-ARIZ.)

1/14 Tom McClintock REP. (R-CALIF.)
11/19/15 Rohrabacher REP. (R-CALIF.)

4/27 Cory Gardner SEN. (R-COLO.)
4/9 Doug Lamborn REP. (R-COLO.)
1/20/15 Ken Buck REP. (R-COLO.)

8/6/15 Jody Hice REP. (R-GA.)

4/29 Mike Pence GOV. (R-IND.)

4/6 James E. Risch SEN. (R-IDAHO)
2/16 Raul Labrador REP. (R-IDAHO)

11/16/15 Steve King REP. (R-IOWA)

2/16 Tim Huelskamp REP. (R-KAN.)

2/23 Justin Amash REP. (R-MICH.)

3/7 Phil Bryant GOV. (R-MISS.)

3/11 Ann Wagner REP. (R-MO.)
12/7 Sam Graves REP. (R-MO.)

7/18/15 J.Bridenstine REP. (R-OKLA.)

1/27 Mark Meadows REP. (R-N.C.)

3/17 Lindsey Graham SEN. (R-S.C.)
3/16 Nikki R. Haley GOV. (R-S.C.)
2/19 Mark Sanford REP. (R-S.C.)
2/2 Jeff Duncan REP. (R-S.C.)

4/8 Joe Barton REP. (R-TEXAS)
3/17 Jeb Hensarling REP. (R-TEXAS)
2/23 Greg Abbott GOV. (R-TEXAS)
2/22 Roger Williams REP. (R-TEXAS)
1/11 Sam Johnson REP. (R-TEXAS)
7/2/15 Brian Babin REP. (R-TEXAS)
5/21/15 M. Burgess REP. (R-TEXAS)
5/21/15 John Ratcliffe REP. (R-TEXAS)
5/21/15 L. Gohmert REP. (R-TEXAS)
4/17/15 J. Culberson REP. (R-TEXAS)
9/28/15 Randy Weber REP. (R-TEXAS)

3/22 Mia Love REP. (R-UTAH)
3/21 Gary Herbert GOV. (R-UTAH)
3/10 Mike Lee SEN. (R-UTAH)

1/12 Alex Mooney REP. (R-W.VA.)

4/2 Reid Ribble REP. (R-WIS.)
3/29 Scott Walker GOV. (R-WIS.)
3/11 G. Grothman REP. (R-WIS.)

In light of Trump surrogate Sarah Palin's remarks about Speaker Ryan, who indicated that he was withholding his support from Trump for the time being, I've decided to add Paul Ryan to my list of candidates I'll support. Although I suspect Ryan's non-dorsement has an expiration date, I am sick and tired of the implication that opposing the sometime Republican, never conservative front-runner is a betrayal of America and that any who oppose the would-be strongman are enemies who must be purged.

Do any of you know if the politicians listed above, or your favorite non-Trump endorsers, need help with their campaigns?

I know that Governor Herbert faces a challenger for reelection this year because he did not meet the vote threshold in Utah's caucus. I've also read that Democrats are targeting Mia Love's seat. I haven't seen anything to indicate that Mike Lee is in serious trouble, but I may have missed it.

The Cook Political Report maintains ratings for upcoming races. Note, they indicate that Herbert's seat is "safe," but that just means it's safe Republican. He's facing a challenger under Utah's somewhat unique system.

Here's a a summary of U.S. Senate races via the Senate Conservatives Fund.

On a related note, a couple of days ago there was a bit of speculation concerning Rubio's plans based on a brief interview he gave. What do Floridians think? Is Rubio's old seat in danger of flipping? Would he be able to win reelection if he chose to run?

Finally, this article from last month summarizes how the House Freedom Caucus hopes to grow. Recall, the majority of HFC members endorsed Cruz.

I'm going to focus my efforts on helping former #CruzCrew team members, but I certainly encourage those of you who backed Marco Rubio, Scott Walker, Rick Perry, or any of the other non-Trump candidates to identify for us political allies you feel are deserving of our help in an upcoming election.

Again, this is intended to be a thread about positive steps we can take to help politicians who stood with us, rather than being about punishing politicians who've angered us.

Are you happy with your Representative? Does he or she need help to fend off a challenger? Share that information here. Let's see if we can do something constructive.

If you want to argue about the nominee or other topics, please use the Open Thread below.

posted by Open Blogger at 10:33 AM

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