Trump could hurt GOP’s chances for decades

When this month began, we all thought that the campaign-altering “October surprise” of 2016 was the New York Times’S scoop that Republican nominee Donald Trump apparently avoided paying federal income taxes for 18 years, following a near-$1 billion-dollar loss he declared on his 1995 tax return.

How long ago that seems now!

Last week, it was The Washington Post’s turn, releasing a hot-mic recording of Trump in conversation with “Access Hollywood” then-host Billy Bush in 2005. As all the world now knows, Trump revealed attitudes and behaviors toward women that were appalling and indefensible. He made clear that he regarded women as little more than sexual playthings, that marital fidelity meant nothing to him and that his stardom gave him license to commit sexual assault on the objects of his desire.

{mosads}When the recording was made public, Trump tried to dismiss his remarks as “locker-room banter.” But what he said wasn’t locker-room banter; it was the boasting of a sexual predator who considered women to be less than fully human.

Instead of showing contrition for his remarks, Trump was combative. He issued a “sorry if anyone was offended” statement that attempted to minimize his past misogyny by claiming that former President Bill Clinton had done worse things. And then he doubled down on that position at the town hall debate with Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton on Sunday night.

As the only woman to lead a major Republican organization, I am completely horrified by Trump’s atrocious remarks and subsequent non-apologies — and what his candidacy means for the party I know and love.

It’s the worst disaster the Republican Party has suffered in my lifetime.

As a woman and a mother, I am shocked that Trump can’t bring himself to make a sincere apology for having bragged about degrading and assaulting women. I want my daughter to grow up to believe that she can achieve her dreams based on her innate talents and hard work — not on whether her looks, weight, and sexual availability meet the demands of sexist men.

As a Republican, I am floored that Trump has put his own ego ahead of the interests of the party he purports to lead. Every pollster has concluded that the constituency that will determine the outcome of this election is college-educated suburban women — the exact audience that I have reached out to through the Women2Women Conversations Tour.

College-educated Americans historically have voted Republican by wide margins, and the GOP can’t win the presidency without them. Neither can congressional candidates in districts that aren’t heavily Republican. Take away the current Republican members who represent swing districts in the House and “purple” states in the Senate, and the party loses its congressional majority.

Even before the release of Trump’s horrible remarks, he was winning only a bare majority of college-educated men and losing college-educated women by a substantial margin. Now, following the revelation that Trump apparently felt entitled to “grab” women by their vagina, every indication is that Trump has repulsed a majority of college-educated voters, particularly women.

If college-educated Americans conclude that the party that nominated Trump is irredeemably tarnished by sexism — and perhaps racism and xenophobia as well — the GOP is finished as a national party for the foreseeable future.

Not only will Trump lose the election; so will every other Republican presidential candidate for decades to come. And if the Republican base in the future consists only of the shrinking demographic of non-college-educated white Americans, with minimal appeal to any other group, the party will lose control of Congress and won’t regain it for a long time to come.

I know that Trump’s attitudes in no way reflect those of the Republican Party that I have worked for over the past two decades. But since the party’s presidential nominee can’t or won’t make that clear, many members of Congress have been compelled to separate themselves from Trump’s candidacy.

Would they rather have remained supportive of the Republican presidential nominee? Of course; a disunited party has a much harder path to victory. But the Republican men and women who bravely spoke out against Trump did so not only because his remarks imperiled their own candidacies, but also out of love and loyalty for the Republican Party and a concern for its long-term future.

I hope voters — especially women voters — will remember that the Republican Party is bigger and broader than its presidential nominee. And however they vote at the top of the ticket, I hope they will evaluate each congressional candidate on his or her own merit. I don’t want Trump’s sexist attitudes to permeate the party. I want the Republican Party to continue to play a critical role in breaking down every obstacle that prevents women from equal representation and full participation in every aspect of American life.

As a Republican, I have grave doubts about the programs and policies that Hillary Clinton has vowed to implement as president. Even if she represents a continuation of President Obama’s approach, that would be a disaster for America.

But the increasing likelihood of her presidency means that now, more than ever, it is important to keep Republican majorities in both the House and Senate to maintain the responsible and solutions-oriented leadership that I believe most women want to see in government. 

Chamberlain, as president and CEO of the Republican Main Street Partnership, is the only woman to lead a national Republican organization.

The views expressed by contributors are their own and not the views of The Hill.