Trump has 5% higher approval among Virginia voters than Republican Party. 5 point negative swing in Virginia Gov. election was due to dislike of GOP Establishment, not Trump-The Hill, Mark Penn...(Deep State GOP run weak candidates like Ed Gillespie and Romney because they prefer Democrat wins)

"This 5-point swing is exactly how much worse the Republicans fared this time compared to 2016....Gillespie was a D.C. lobbyist and party chairman; he couldn’t battle “the swamp” — he was “the swamp.”"...................... 

11/12/17, "In Virginia, Republican Party more to blame than Trump," The Hill, by Mark Penn, opinion contributor

"It was neither the sweeping repudiation of Trump that some Democrats would like to believe nor the ushering in of the age of Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. 

The measured takeaway in Virginia for the Democrats is that moderate candidates, especially after they have done a good job in a state, can beat establishment Republicans today, perhaps even handily. Democrat Ralph Northam defeated the liberal he faced in the Virginia primary who had the backing of the left; he is an Army veteran, and backed away from such signature liberal-left policies as sanctuary cities. He represents the power that Democrats could unlock with moderate candidates in the bullpen....

The easy storyline is to blame Donald Trump for the loss — but only 34 percent of the voters labeled that a major factor in their voting. Trump’s approval rating in the exit polling was 40 percent in a state he lost by 5 points; that strongly suggests his actual national approval rating is about 42 to 45 percent, rather than in the 30s, as many national polls have been proclaiming. That’s still short of a majority but well above George Bush, who was often in the low 20s, and close to ratings that Barack Obama had much of the time.

A more likely suspect here is the Republican Party and the fratricide going on within. Asked about the Virginia Democratic Party, voters gave it a surprisingly positive 51/46, while the Republican Party was intensely disliked, garnering  a 37 favorable/59 unfavorable rating. The Republican Party, therefore, is significantly lower than Donald Trump in its ratings— it was 3 points further down in favorable ratings and 2 points higher in unfavorable ratings. 

This 5-point swing is exactly how much worse the Republicans fared this time compared to 2016. 

Bear in mind, this is not a very liberal electorate. Voting groups who cared about guns or immigration favored the Trump policies; 57 percent said hands-off those Confederate statues. And, judging by the turn-about Northam did on sanctuary cities, it’s unlikely there is much support for sanctuary cities in Virginia — and we know nationally it is a big loser for Democrats....

Overall, Gillespie was a D.C. lobbyist and party chairman; he couldn’t battle “the swamp” — he was “the swamp.”

It wasn’t Trump who lost those moderate men, but Gillespie, who was neither fish nor fowl to them; he wasn’t going to do a better job on the core issues than Northam, and the last-minute Hail Marys on the social issues probably just created more confusion about who he was.  

People want these elections to be about simple storylines and, yet, real events are more complex. This election was one-part moderate Democratic candidate, one-part anti-Trump reaction, especially among young women, one-part successful state Democratic administration that people wanted to continue, and one part “swamp” establishment lobbyist from a disrespected Republican Party.  

Together, the mix was good for the Democrats, toxic for the Republicans."

"Mark Penn is co-director of the Harvard CAPS-Harris Poll and was a pollster for Bill Clinton during six years of his presidency."

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11/8/2013, "Sabotage Republicans," Jeffrey Lord, American Spectator

"The Republican Party has two serious problems on its hands. 

The first is with those like Eric Cantor’s ex-chief of staff who are invited into leadership positions in the party — when they in fact are not conservatives at all and quietly or openly seek to sabotage the party.

The second is with those Establishment Republicans who do manage to win — and then see their job as merely managing the leftist status quo....That is the Republican Party’s real problem. And it’s a big one." (end of article)

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Comment: Just as Ed Gillespie couldn't battle the swamp, Romney as the author of ObamaCare's model couldn't seriously battle ObamaCare. Swamp GOP desperately wanted to keep ObamaCare. Democrats knew this and the two parties just let enough years go by for it to cease being an issue. Swamp GOP said Romney absolutely HAD TO be the 2012 candidate--which, knowing he'd lose, guaranteed a few more years for O'Care to settle in. It was Republican voters who didn't want it. GOP E has no interest in what voters want, they know GOP voters have nowhere else to go. Swamp slime like Ed Gillespie and Romney merely guarantee Democrat wins. Under no circumstances are the rubes allowed to have a real candidate. If the US had two separate and distinct political parties, the country wouldn't have most of the problems it has today. With only one political party, you have a dictatorship. The people are completely unprotected.







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