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It was inevitable that many Republican officials would abandon Donald Trump once it became obvious that he might lose. Rats can always be expected to desert a sinking ship, of course, but establishment Republicans have a longstanding habit of unswerving loyalty to their leaders when they are in power and then rejecting them the minute they lose popularity, often while complaining that they failed because they weren’t conservative enough.

Recall that at the end of the George W. Bush administration, as the Iraq war wore on and the economy faltered, the president’s approval rating dropped to the high 20s. It was quite a comedown for a president who had once ridden high at 90% in the wake of 9/11 and was heralded as the reincarnation of Winston Churchill by many in the news media. Today he is something of a GOP cipher and his father, a one-termer, even more so.

Ronald Reagan, of course, was a revered conservative figure for many years, but that was mostly the result of a group of so-called “Reagan Revolutionaries” led by anti-tax advocate Grover Norquist who were disturbed by Reagan’s low ratings after his term was up and made a concerted effort to turn it around with initiatives such as the “Reagan Legacy Project” which set out to put a Ronald Reagan memorial in every county in the United States.

But for the most part, the reason Republicans are quick to abandon their presidents is because they most often leave office in ignominy and failure. Think about it: Hoover, Nixon, Ford, Bush and Bush. Really, in the last century all they have as political heroes are Eisenhower and Reagan, and the latter took a full-blown campaign to turn him into an icon. And needless to say, despite his belief that he belongs on Mt. Rushmore, I think we know which group President Trump will be joining. In fact, he is in a class all of his own.

Nonetheless, while a president is in office, Republicans are almost always in lockstep. The level of fealty GOP officials have given to Trump goes beyond even the usual conservative team loyalty, however. There’s been a lot of ink spilled trying to analyze why that is with most observers concluding that elected Republicans are afraid of their own voters who have a cult-like devotion to Trump. And there’s truth to that. Trump’s hold on his base is very strong.

So, while it’s not surprising to see some Republicans start to break from Trump as his re-election chances appear iffy at best, it’s more difficult than usual. There are always a few races in which the candidate will need to assert their “independence” in order to win and the party generally gives them the go-ahead to do what they need to do. But Trump supporters see the slightest criticism as an act of betrayal.

Watching some of the more desperate among them like Arizona Senator Martha McSally try to walk that fine line is almost painful to watch.

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