USA; Presidential Elections: Trump's train is running off the tracks - Opinion by John Avlon

he fever may be starting to break. Donald Trump has held his party in line with bullying tactics and the white-hot love of the conservative populist base.

But now — badly trailing in the polls and marred by increasingly erratic, self-sabotaging behavior — there are signs that some Republicans are beginning to distance themselves from Trump in a desperate attempt to avoid political doom.

 

The unlikely canary in the coal mine came in the form of Arizona Sen. Martha McSally — typically a Trump sycophant — who avoided answering several direct questions on whether she was proud of her support for the President during her debate against Democratic challenger Mark Kelly. Instead, she robotically repeated that she was "proud to be fighting for Arizona."

 

It wasn't subtle but it was strategic. That's because hugging Donald Trump too tight is a liability in a purple state general election. Independents make up 32% of registered voters in Arizona and in the latest CNN poll, Trump has just a 37% approval rate among independents nationally.

 

In Arizona, Trump has the added burden of repeatedly insulting the state's favorite son, John McCain, whose wife Cindy has endorsed Joe Biden. Trump's persistent disrespect of McCain provoked McSally to slap the President more directly: "It pisses me off when he does it."

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Opinion: Trump's train is running off the tracks - CNN