Can or should win....

Flake: I don't think Trump can or should win

By Burgess Everett

Jeff Flake has come to a harsh conclusion: If Donald Trump continues his campaign without a course correction, he doesn’t deserve to win.

While the Arizona senator says he wants to support Trump, he said Tuesday that he has “little faith at this point that he will change.”

“One: I don’t think he can win if he continues to run this kind of campaign. And two: I don’t think he should win as he continues to campaign as he is, taking the kinds of positions he’s taking and the language he’s using,” Flake told more than 100 Allstate employees during a town hall event at one of the insurer's corporate campuses.

It was perhaps the GOP senator’s harshest remarks yet about Trump, and moved Flake closer to shutting the door on the mogul's candidacy altogether. Flake has been among the most vocal elected Republicans criticizing Trump’s presidential campaign, chastising him publicly and even privately to stop alienating Muslims and Latinos with his rhetoric and policy proposals.

Flake made several indirect references to Trump losing, saying, "Whoever's in charge" will heavily influence what happens in Congress next year, "and we know who will be."

Trump has been slightly more on message since the resignation of former campaign chair Paul Manafort last week. But the gist of Trump’s campaign has largely remained the same and he continues to lag in polls, particularly among young people and minorities.

“Only one in five voters under age 35 plans to pull the Republican lever. If we don’t change that, we consign ourselves to political oblivion in the future. And we have a candidate that is not reaching out, but is instead finding new ways to offend just about every demographic we have out there,” Flake said. “The implications will be far bigger than just losing the presidency in November.”

Of particular concern for Flake is losing the Senate and allowing Hillary Clinton to install far more liberal nominees than Merrick Garland, President Barack Obama's center-left pick meant to appeal to deal-making Republicans.

Flake's easy demeanor and stated delight in not being up for reelection this year belies the risks he is taking by criticizing Trump. Up for reelection in 2018, Flake will be one of few targets for Democrats, and he's increasingly likely to face a GOP primary challenger.

That balancing act was on full display Tuesday. Joshua Cali of Chandler, Arizona, confronted Flake to convey his disappointment with him and how “completely ridiculous” it is that the senator is not supporting Trump.

Flake chalked up the dispute to a “gentleman’s disagreement,” in Cali’s telling. But the Allstate employee seemed unimpressed after their conversation, which remained civil.

“That he’s afraid it will wipe out of Republicans for generations is just ridiculous,” Cali said in an interview afterward. “He probably feels safer in a Hillary Clinton administration.”

Speaking to reporters after his visit to Allstate, Flake said he’s likely made his political future more difficult by taking such a dim view of Trump.

“If I wanted to sail through reelection, this has made that tougher, no doubt,” Flake said. "But there are a lot of people that appreciate somebody pushing back, too."