Imagine for a moment the reaction and the media coverage if one prominent Democrat after another announced they were not supporting President Joe Biden's bid for a second term. Cue an avalanche of stories and pearl-clutching about "Democrats in Disarray" and "A Party Divided Against Itself." And yet, despite policy disagreements and doubts about Biden's age, none of that is happening on the Democratic side.
But that makes the current divide in the Republican Party all the more notable. Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska became the latest Republican officeholder to break with her party's nominee. "I wish that as Republicans, we had ... a nominee that I could get behind," Murkowski told CNN. "I certainly can't get behind Donald Trump."
She joins a small but vocal group of fellow Republicans who are refusing to rally around the party's presumptive nominee: A week earlier two other GOP senators — Mike Rounds of South Dakota and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana — refused to make an explicit Trump endorsement. And Sen. Todd Young of Indiana has joined Utah's Mitt Romney (and former Reps. Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois) in declaring that he will not vote for Trump in 2024.
This followed the surprise announcement by uber-Trump loyalist Mike Pence that he was also getting off the Trump Train. While some on the left are disappointed that Pence also said he won't vote for Biden, the nonendorsement is still one of the most dramatic developments of the campaign, especially if we put Pence's break with Trump in context: Of all the GOP's presidential and vice-presidential nominees of the last quarter century, the only one to back Trump's bid is … Sarah Palin. That's right: Along with Romney and Pence, George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and Paul Ryan are also not endorsing Trump.
While this may be an undercovered story, Biden's campaign has seized on the pattern, posting a devastating series of videos of Trump Cabinet members, advisers and aides who have broken with the former president.
The Biden campaign frames it this way: "The people who know Trump best won't support him. Why should you?"
To be sure, these defectors are not leading a revolt within the party. But their quiet refusal to go along with the party's chosen nominee is a signal of a broader discontent among Republicans. In a closely fought election, even small defections could make all the difference.
