#NeverTrump GOP endorsements LATEST: Graham and Lee voted McMullin

[Mr. Morden]

Toomey still not sure if he’s going to reveal who he’s voting for for president:

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/pennsylvania-gop-senator-maintains-mystery-trump-vote-43275451

Meanwhile, McCaskill says that whatever they’re saying in public, she believes the majority of Senate Republicans will not actually vote for Trump:

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/claire-mccaskill-senate-republicans-not-voting-trump

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[Mr. Morden]

Never Trump renegades have no political future.

Particularly if Trump wins.

Ljube, what happened to all the #NeverTrump Republican politicians who were supposed to "come home" in the end, according to what you were saying months ago?  Very few of them have done so.  The #NeverTrump list in the OP of this thread is longer than it was six months ago! 

Yeah.

Well, don't you think they are coming home? At least rank and file Never Trump Republicans?

What else could be fueling the Trump surge in the home stretch?

I’m not talking about rank and file (though most polls still have Trump doing notably worse among Republicans than Romney did).  I’m talking about #NeverTrump Republicans in Congress.  Remember this exchange?:

Unlike with the PUMAs, there are way too many high profile Republicans (both politicians and conservative media types) who've thrown in their lot with #NeverTrump for all of them to backtrack now.  There is no going back.

For that matter, I think #NeverTrump will grow among Republicans in Congress after Trump is nominated.  As of now, many of them have simply dodged the question as to whether they would endorse him if he's nominated.  But once he is nominated, it's no longer a hypothetical.  They'll have to choose.

There you go again.

Sometimes it seems like you live on another planet.
Perhaps you are just playing with us, Trump supporters.

It's just not happening in the real world. Can you give an example of anything remotely similar to what you're saying happening anywhere in the world ever?

I said that the number of #NeverTrump Republicans in Congress would grow rather than shrink after Trump was nominated.  You said that such a statement made it seem like I “live on another planet”.  You also said "It's just not happening in the real world."  Well guess what?  I was right. 

And then when I called you out on this months later, you kept saying that there was still time for them to change their minds.  We have less than a week now.  You really think all those #NeverTrump Republican politicians are going to fold now?

[Mr. Morden]

Incidentally, I think Heller and Toomey are the only remaining Senators who have not yet publicly stated if they'll vote for Trump or not.  Heller did say he was "99% sure" he wasn't voting Trump, but I guess that's not quite 100.  Toomey OTOH really doesn't want to talk about it.

So those two are at least possible no's, and then you have 12 sitting Republican Senators who say they're not voting for Trump.  The remaining GOP Senators are all backing Trump.

[Mr. Morden]

Yes, not voting for the party's most recent presidential nominee is an act of treachery almost as bad as saying that the party's last president should have been impeached, and that he knowingly lied us into war and that he knew there were no WMDs.

Surely there's going to be a steep political price to pay for such things, right?

Oh wait...

[Mr. Morden]

Mike Lee voted McMullin:

http://www.sltrib.com/home/4563854-155/utah-sen-mike-lee-voted-for

Some of the other #NeverTrump Republican voters are listed here:

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/prominent-republicans-leave-ballots-blank-vote-trump-article-1.2864752

E.g., Kasich voted for McCain, McCain voted for Graham, and Graham voted McMullin.

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Rick Snyder continued to dodge the question.

[Mr. Morden]

And I would just like to point out that those of you who were saying that these guys would largely fall in line at the end couldn't have been more wrong.  Hardly any of the #NeverTrump Republican politicians ended up backing Trump in the end.  There were a few, but the overwhelming majority stuck to #NeverTrump.

I will now accept my accolades.

That's true, but I wonder how many of "never Trump" crowd would eventually fall in line if he's nominated: "well yes, I had some doubts but the most important thing now is to unite and prevent Obama's third term".

Answer: Very few of them did fall in line.

[Mr. Morden]

Will be fascinating to see how the NeverTrumpers vote on legislation in the next Congress. While the GOP may have a Senate majority, the NeverTrumpers could unite with Democrats to form a majority against Trump.

If you mean that they'll vote to kill some bills that Trump supports, then sure, that'll happen on certain issues.  (E.g., there are immigration proposals that Trump would favor which'll never get the support of folks like Jeff Flake.)  But will there be some kind of systematic alignment with Democrats?  Not unless these folks leave the party outright.

I am actually wondering if anyone on the list in the OP will leave the party outright, now that Trump is leading it.  Probably not any of the currently elected officials, but it could happen among some of the retired pols, who aren't running for anything anymore.  Anyone want to make any predictions on that score?

[Mr. Morden]

Looks like after the election was over, Toomey said that he voted for Trump:

https://www.buzzfeed.com/nathanielmeyersohn/pat-toomey-i-was-not-expecting-donald-trump-to-win?utm_term=.oboxKOzlp#.wpMx9Ebdn

Will be interested to see if any of the other folks who were said to be leaning against but not firmly committed (e.g., Heller, Pataki, Rauner) ever make some kind of public comment about who they voted for.

[Mr. Morden]

*bump*

Both George Bushes admit that they did not vote for Trump:

http://www.newsweek.com/trump-blowhard-i-dont-him-and-i-voted-hillary-george-bush-says-new-book-702007

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Oh, and Trump has responded:

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[Mr. Morden]

Romney says he wrote in Ann's name in 2016:

http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/390003-romney-reveals-he-wrote-in-wifes-name-for-president-in-2016