a divided republican party descended into turmoil, as a startling chorus of gop candidates and officials repudiated their own presidential candidate and scrambled to find personal paths to political survival just a month before election day. republican national committee chairman reince priebus<u+00a0>on saturday<u+00a0>told party officials to redirect funds away from nominee donald trump to down-ballot candidates, according to an official informed of the decision. in practical terms, the party will be working to mobilize voters who support gop house and senate candidates regardless of their position on the presidential race. that means the rnc will push floridians who support both democratic nominee hillary clinton and republican sen. marco rubio to vote. before today, the rnc wouldn<u+2019>t have sought to turn out clinton voters, leaving split-ticket voters for senate campaigns to target. the release on friday<u+00a0>of a 2005 video of mr. trump making lewd and degrading comments about women has led to recriminations from all corners of the gop.<u+00a0>mr. trump<u+2019>s comments were denounced by the party chairman, the speaker of the house, a squadron of former gop presidential candidates and a flood of members of congress. unprecedented pressure has mounted on mr. trump<u+00a0>to step aside, although there appears to be no easy off-ramp for the party<u+00a0>that nominated the most unconventional political outsider in its history less than three months ago.<u+00a0> mr. trump told the wall street journal he won<u+2019>t quit the race . when 2008 republican nominee john mccain on saturday<u+00a0>withdrew his endorsement of mr. trump, that left 1996 nominee bob dole as the only living gop nominee backing mr. trump. in an interview, mr. dole said he is still supportive of the party<u+2019>s nominee . <u+201c>it was 11 years ago. he shouldn<u+2019>t have said it, but there<u+2019>s nothing he can do about it except to do well in the debate,<u+201d> he said. <u+201c>i think he can overcome a lot of this in the debate<u+00a0>tomorrow<u+00a0>night.<u+201d> the speed and breadth of the abandonment of mr. trump<u+2019>s candidacy shocked some long-time party members and exposed a shattered party without a clear path forward. <u+201c>our party is in its deepest crisis since watergate in 1974,<u+201d> said ron nehring, former chairman of the california republican party, referring to the mid-term election when the resignation of then-president richard m. nixon led to a democratic landslide. <u+201c>it<u+2019>s<u+00a0>compounded by the fact that it doesn<u+2019>t matter whether donald trump were to bow out. it<u+2019>s too late to change the candidate on the ballot." the immediate consequence of the rnc<u+2019>s decision on allocating resources is a halt to the party<u+2019>s mail program so it can be redirected toward a new universe of voters, the official said. news of the mail program stopping was first reported by politico. mr. priebus and top party strategist sean spicer didn<u+2019>t respond to requests for comment. opinion polls across the country show a growing number of voters willing to back gop congressional candidates and mrs. clinton. in ohio, where republican sen. rob portman has endorsed mr. trump but declined to appear with him, the senator is leading his race by 15 percentage points in public opinion polls, while the presidential battle is basically tied. the rnc could increase the number of split-ticket voters by pushing clinton supporters who back gop senate candidates to the polls. mr. trump<u+2019>s latest imbroglio is also widening a chasm between the party<u+2019>s old guard and the legions of voters drawn to his anti-establishment message. those divisions surfaced<u+00a0>on saturday<u+00a0>when house speaker paul ryan appeared at a rally in his wisconsin district after disinviting mr. trump from that event and denouncing his crude comments.<u+00a0>mr. ryan<u+2019>s own welcome was mixed with boos and pro-trump hecklers in the crowd. the one figure who might help keep republicans unified during this most challenging time is the democratic nominee. though mrs. clinton<u+2019>s approval ratings have hovered slightly above mr. trump<u+2019>s, she is one of the least popular presidential nominees in modern history. public disclosure of her emails when she was secretary of state and leaked correspondence from campaign and party officials have provided a steady stream of negative stories that show no signs of slowing. just as reports of mr. trump<u+2019>s lewd conversation was surfacing<u+00a0>on friday, the organization wikileaks released what it claimed to be excerpts from paid speeches that show mrs. clinton privately taking a more favorable position toward free trade and the financial industry than she has done publicly. <u+201c>she<u+2019>s admitted she<u+2019>s a globalist who<u+2019>s going to kill jobs, and if donald trump can pivot to these substantial issues he will succeed. those things aren<u+2019>t going away,<u+201d> said new york republican party chairman ed cox. <u+201c>the republican party will survive this, of course, because we have the issues on our side. people want change now.<u+201d> but the video of trump is setting the party back even among voters who are dead set against mrs. clinton. <u+201c>she will never get my vote, however my enthusiasm for trump is gone,<u+201d> said jim gentile, a connecticut businessman who traveled two hours to attend a recent trump rally in new hampshire. <u+201c>i believe he has lost his unique appeal by this video showing such disrespect for women. i don<u+2019>t think he has a chance of winning at this point.<u+201d> the episode exacerbates the problems mr. trump already had rounding up support from women. the latest wall street journal/nbc news poll showed<u+00a0>mrs. clinton winning 45% -33% among women. mr. trump was leading 41%-38% among men. <u+201c>we cannot make headway with women or latinos or any other group that sees a <u+2018>not wanted<u+2019> sign in front of the republican party, and trump<u+2019>s candidacy is doing nothing to take that sign down,<u+201d> said beth myers, a top adviser to 2012 nominee mitt romney. ms. myers added, however, that <u+201c>many men<u+2014> including my former boss<u+2014>are every bit as incensed about this as i am.<u+201d> former trump rival jeb bush added to the criticism in a twitter message: <u+201c>as the grandfather of two precious girls, i find that no apology can excuse away donald trump<u+2019>s reprehensible comments degrading women.<u+201d> ironically, a member of the bush clan played an important role in the offending video. it was in a recorded conversation with billy bush, a cousin of the former florida governor who was a television host at the time, who was engaging with mr. trump when he talked about his sexual exploits. billy bush, who works with nbc, issued an apology for his part in the conversation. the stakes are especially high for the senate because democrats need to pick up just four or five seats to win a majority, and at least two<u+2014>in illinois and wisconsin<u+2014>are already considered likely to flip into democratic hands. nathan gonzales, an analyst with the non-partisan rothenberg and gonzales political report, said the biggest problem for gop congressional candidates may be that trump<u+2019>s foibles will depress turnout among voters who would otherwise vote republican. <u+201c>if trump causes gop turnout to dip even a handful of points, that could push the senate toward the democrats and give democrats significant gains in the house," he said. mr. trump<u+2019>s remaining supporters spent<u+00a0>saturday<u+00a0>lamenting his language in the video tape and denouncing fellow republicans who have abandoned his campaign. <u+201c>i am very unhappy this morning because it seems like vultures are circling, and it makes me unhappy for our party and for our country,<u+201d> said demetra demonte, the gop national committeewoman from illinois.<u+00a0><u+201c>why is it that we republicans eat our own when something bad comes out?<u+201d> <u+2014>mike bender contributed to this article.
gop scrambles to salvage election after donald trump<u+2019>s latest imbroglio - wsj
janet hook reid j. epstein