A year ago, it was unthinkable that Republican members of Congress would ever support Donald Trump. Even in mid-February, eight months after he had launched his candidacy, not a single sitting member of Congress had endorsed him. Of course, Trump's willingness to verbally assault his own party's politicians probably helped him win the GOP nomination with about 45 percent of GOP primary voters. Despite Speaker Paul Ryan's efforts to "unify" against Hillary Clinton, only about 76 percent of House Republicans are on record supporting Trump. And members' reluctance to go along with their unusual nominee is strongly correlated with -- you guessed it -- their vulnerability. House Republicans' face-to-face meeting with Trump on Capitol Hill this week didn't appear to persuade doubters that Trump is willing to adopt the tone, temperament and substance they desperately want to see in their standard-bearer. But as the old saying goes, where you stand depends on where you sit: just as it's been good politics for Trump to bash his own party elders, it's also good politics for some GOP members to stiff-arm their

More from the Cook Political Report

Archives1984-2022
Free
CPR Archives
dw