NYT: Downballot Republicans running for the hills

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/07/us/politics/donald-trump-gop.html

As Donald Trump Incites Feuds, Other G.O.P. Candidates Flee His Shadow
New York Times
Politics

By JONATHAN MARTIN and ALEXANDER BURNS
AUGUST 6, 2016

After a disastrous week of feuds and plummeting poll numbers, Republican leaders have concluded that Donald J. Trump is a threat to the party’s fortunes and have begun discussing how soon their endangered candidates should explicitly distance themselves from the presidential nominee.

For Republicans in close races, top strategists say, the issue is no longer in doubt. One House Republican has already started airing an ad vowing to stand up to Mr. Trump if he is elected president, and others are expected to press similar themes in the weeks ahead.

In the world of Republican “super PACs,” strategists are going even farther: discussing advertisements that would treat Mr. Trump’s defeat as a given and urge voters to send Republicans to Congress as a check on a Hillary Clinton White House. The discussions were described by officials familiar with the deliberations, several of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity about confidential planning.

For now, some of the party’s most vulnerable incumbents are simply hoping to avoid what they see as the taint of association with their standard-bearer.

Two members of Congress locked in competitive races made themselves scarce when Mr. Trump arrived in their states on Friday. The two, Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Representative David Young of Iowa, held events elsewhere.

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Let's wait and see where this is headed. The smart ones already have a finger up in the wind and they can feel the blizzard coming.

"Don't go out in the rain wearing nothing but your socks." - Ancient Chinese Proverb