Trump Gets His Way in Indiana

Why don’t more Republicans defy President Trump? The president’s poll numbers are bad. The war in Iran is raising gasoline prices. The president’s family is pocketing billions. The president seems to care only about building glitzy monuments to himself. With the impending midterms looking pretty bad for Republicans, you’d think that Trump’s co-partisans would be taking a cue from Meat Loaf: “I would do anything for love, but I won’t do that.” But no. Breaches of discipline remain rare and containable.To better understand Trump’s power over his party—its limits and potential—study yesterday’s Indiana Republican primary.You may remember that late last year the Indiana Senate rejected a Trump-backed plan to gerrymander the state to eliminate Democratic control over two seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. Twenty-one Republicans joined 10 Democrats to defeat the measure, 31–19. The Republican naysayers cited the gerrymander’s unpopularity with voters. The plan would have denied the city of Indianapolis representation in Congress by chopping it into pieces swallowed by surrounding suburbs and exurbs, among other defects.[Mark Leibovich: Democrats could use a cold shower before the midterms]Trump and Vice President Vance promptly threatened Republican dissenters with retribution. Eight Indiana state senators were targeted for primary challenges. The Trump White House and its allies—including the formerly anti-Trump free-market group Club for Growth, which now supports him—poured serious (for Indiana) money into those challenges, at least five of which went their way. (Counting continues as I write.) These victories clear the way for Trump’s ultimate plan to topple Indiana’s Senate President Rodric Bray, who failed to push through the president’s gerrymander scheme. Only candidates who had promised to oppose Bray’s reelection earned Trump’s endorsement and campaign support.Nervous Republicans throughout the country have heard the message: Stick with Trump, and you m