The only one who would likely shake the Trumpism of his likely voters is George HW Bush - “WW2 Veteran, ex-Republican President endorses HRC” would be a blow Trump could never recover from. It would swing an impressive number of elderly voters, losing any chance @ FL.
Romney… he may deliver Utah, no small thing, but I don’t think he will be able to swing as many as a Bush.
GHWB isn’t going to do this, of course, but he would be the most effective one, if it happened.
I could maybe (maybe) see PJ O’Rourke doing something like this. But not any GOPer who is actually in government or who plays any kind of role in the party itself.
Missed the edit window…
But why would the Democrats want someone like O’Rourke, who thinks Hillary is the 2nd worst thing that could happen to the country?
Well, now I have my hopes up for Romney. It would be a thing of beauty.
You’re allowed to dream…
I think you’re right about Bush being held in respect by a certain faction of Trump fans. But if we’re talking about ‘shaking the Trumpism,’ there’s not really any politician who can get to the hearts and minds of those who think Trump would make an acceptable President (let alone those who think Trump would make a good President).
What is needed is for their actual heroes to come out in force and say “no way, this guy will wreck the country. Like it or not, voting for Hillary Clinton is the patriotic thing to do.”
And their heroes are the top country music stars and top NASCAR stars and maybe some top professional wrestling stars. Hell, toss in Chuck Norris while we’re at it. And it couldn’t hurt to have Clint Eastwood walk out and say “folks, though he may be a Republican in name, I can’t stomach Trump. Please, make my day by voting for the Democrat. It’s the only way to avoid disaster.”
Pretty sure Romney said he’s not voting for Clinton either.
Ok, if dreams count, then I want Chris Christie to take the stage and start blowing the lid off how the Trump campaign is run: “Once he started making me buy him McDonald’s and wouldn’t share his fries, I began to plot my revenge and get all the dirt I could…”
AND THEN, Mike Pence comes out and says “Me, too! Let me tell you how he’s humiliating me… and this great country!”
Not really a high profile defector but Michael Bloomberg will endorse Hillary at the convention
I think “Mayor of NYC” and billionaire owner of media properties is high-profile enough - the man has national name recognition, after all, and he is influential among people who are also influential… including many high-spending Republican donors who have currently sat this one out.
Remember, there was a 40 minute period last February or March where Bloomberg was being hyped as a possible anti-Trump candidate, the sort of well-connected Republican that could throw enough support and $ around an organization to defeat DJT.
Now he’s on Hillary’s side. Time will tell whether he’s an outlier or the start of a new trend.
he’ll definitely hurt Trump’s business credential’s, given that Bloomberg is a winner; he studied something legit at a top school (without legacy to get him in), and then started a real company that does more than license its name.
Honestly, Trump is the joke of NY real estate. Serious real estate investment firms are Tishman Speyer, CBRE, Brickman, Newmark Grubb Knight Frank, Colliers, etc.
Dems tho need a long-time GOP politician, as Zell was a Democrat, with nothing to lose, as Zell did not seek Senate re-election, because while Bloomberg will help out with the business and upper crust crowd, the Trump people will be able to say he switched to GOP in 2001 to run for mayor, while a guy similar to Zell had a whole career behind him.
Given that Trump switched to being a Democrat in 2001, that particular problem is neutralized.
It should be neutralized, but the much of the GOP base doesn’t care: he’ll get rid of the Mexicans.
The kind of GOPers Hillary needs to sway are not the “dey tooker jabs” crowd or the alt-right; she needs to sway moderate suburban types (the “Soccer Moms”), professional types (including finance, medicine, banking), country club types, kids of rednecks but who still want economic assistance, and the black and Hispanic Republicans that do exist.
Outlier. Nobody knows except Bloomberg thought Bloomberg had a shot at the White House.
Bloomberg’s endorsement is valuable, for reasons already mentioned by JohnT, and also because of the contrasts that can be drawn between actually-successful business manager Bloomberg and doubtfully-effective business manager Trump (as DerekMichaels00 said).
Though of course it would be nice if many prominent Republicans endorsed Clinton, Bloomberg’s endorsement is meaningful and useful in and of itself.
There is absolutely nothing meaningful about one liberal endorsing another liberal.
I think you’ve confused him with his father. George, okay. Milt? No way.
The most high profile Republican that I know has endorsed Hillary is Brent Scowcroft, who was a top security advisor to several Presidents.
After that, there are a few security-oriented intellectuals, like Robert Kagan. None of them is prominent enough to sway many people. And none is likely to be at the Democrats’ convention.