First sign of mutiny in the ranks: Republican lawmaker says will back Hillary

WASHINGTON: Resentment in the Republican establishment has been brewing for months now as Donald Trump has stampeded his way to the Presidential nomination with the support of a vocal rank-and-file. But it has stopped well short of an outright revolt and repudiation of his candidature. As he proved in the primaries, where he outran 16 other candidates, he bagged the nomination fair and square.

But one lawmaker has decided to make a break for it. Richard Hanna, a Republican Congressman from Upstate New York, on Tuesday became the first House Representative to publicly repudiate Trump’s candidature and announce his support for Hillary Clinton. Calling Trump ''profoundly offensive and narcissistic,'' Hanna said he will vote for the Democratic nominee even though he disagreed with her on many issues.

''I will be hopeful and resolute in my belief that being a good American who loves his country is far more important than parties or winning and losing. I trust she can lead. All Republicans may not like the direction, but they can live to win or lose another day with a real candidate,'' Hanna wrote in an op-ed in a local paper in a swipe at his own party's timidity against Trump's tactics.

Hanna’s bombshell came even as President Obama himself stepped into electoral fracas- unusual for a president in the tail end of his term in office- and called on Republicans to dump Trump even at this late stage.

''The question they have to ask themselves is: If you are repeatedly having to say in very strong terms that what he has said is unacceptable, why are you still endorsing him?'' Obama said at a news conference at the White House, referring to many GOP leaders such as John McCain and House Speaker Paul Ryan who have repudiated Trump’s remarks but have said they will still vote for him.

Part of the reason why many lawmakers are leery of breaking ranks is that the entire House of Representatives (435 members) and a third of the Senate (34 out of 100 this time) goes to the polls concurrent with the Presidential elections. Many Senators and Congress in the fray are vulnerable if they do not get across the board support from Republican voters. In effect, Trump supporters can undermine the re-election prospects of many lawmakers. So many lawmakers have gritted their teeth and suffered Trump even though they disagree with his outlook on many issues.

Conventional Washington wisdom is that regardless of who wins the White House, Republicans will retain the 435-member House (where it had 247 seats) and perhaps lose the Senate (where it has 54 seats) to Democrats. The prospects of Democrats recapturing the House is considered unimaginable because 90 per cent of Congressmen are typically re-elected, largely because congressional districts are gerrymandered (boundaries manipulated to favor the sitting lawmaker to ensure re-election).

But Hanna’s revolt could presage a breaking of ranks that could result in an upset. If that happens, and if Trump wins the White House, he will have to learn what consensus is all about since the opposition will control the Congress- a situation many presidents have dealt with in the past, but something Trump would seem incapable of.