Former President George W. Bush has re-entered the political arena to boost vulnerable senators struggling to survive with Donald Trump at the top of the Republican ticket.
Bush has headlined fundraisers for two GOP senators and has plans to help three others in the future, according to the New York Times. Bush reportedly will help Arizona Sen. John McCain and New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte in their re-election efforts.
McCain and Ayotte are both at risk of having their re-election bids torpedoed by the general electorate’s response to Trump at the top of the ticket. Both McCain and Ayotte have made plans to skip the GOP convention this summer, as will President Bush. Only one living GOP presidential nominee, 92-year-old Bob Dole, plans to attend this summer’s convention.
Whether Bush’s presence will help prevent the fracture of the Republican Party or deepen the divide between warring factions remains to be seen. In a yet to air interview with NBC News, House Speaker Paul Ryan encouraged Republicans to vote their conscience.
“I get that this is a very strange situation. He’s a very unique nominee,” Ryan told NBC. “But I feel as a responsibility institutionally as the Speaker of the House that I should not be leading some chasm in the middle of our party. Because you know what I know that’ll do? That’ll definitely knock us out of the White House.”
